"Okay, that's a good performance, you two! Good job!" Kazma said as the two students made it out of the training ring. One of them was holding his bloodied arm, while the other was walking out with the help of as friend, as he had his left leg broken in two places.
"Go to the infirmary and get those wounds fixed up! Next time remember not to get carried away!" The bunny said casually, as he looked back at his clipboard and used a pen to check the names of those two students, and then he saw the next scheduled ones for sparring practice.
"Alright, coming next... Milo the Congo Lion and... Tem the Alpaca!" The rabbit announced. As he did it, the two animals he called made their way into the ring from where they had been standing on the outside.
That specific training dojo (Cherryton had a few them, with some being dedicated entirely for nen training) was designed to look like an actual area, complete with a circular fighting stage on the center with the other students watching from the seats around. And now there were two students who were coming to the place dressed in their sportswear, as they were ready for training.
The lion stood where he was, flexing his clawed fingers as he looked at the person he was going to face. On the opposite end, Tem stood there with a sports top and a pair of shorts, hopping in place as he stretched his arms and prepared for action.
"Alright, you two, I want a clean and honest fight!" Kazma said to the two of them as he stood between the two. "And, for the love of Rex, try not to mess or kill each other too much! If I get more than a couple students on my class with a broken bone or a lacerated arm, then Gon is going to be up my tail again! And I am talking to you!" Kazma pointed at the lion as he said that. "That's right! Because I remember what you did to that clouded leopard on the last sparring! I do not want a repeat of that bloodbath of a fiasco! If your opponent says he yields, then you stop attacking!"
The lion's answer to that was to scoff. Kazma looked at him, and he knew that he would be having a word with him if he overdone it again.
"And are you ready?" Kazma asked the alpaca, who had just finished stretching, and took a few breaths, before getting in position.
"Ready!" Tem said, and the lion got in position once more.
"Fight!" Kazma said to the two and, as soon as he did, the two of them got into action.
The lion coated his claws into nen, and he then swung them at the alpaca right from where he was standing.
His nen took the form of flying slashes of crimson coloration, which flew in direction to the alpaca, who had just activated this nen, and used it to materialize a great cloth, which he swung into the incoming energy projectiles.
The projectiles disappeared into the cloth, and then, with another swing of said cloth, the nen slashes reappeared, their direction changed so now they were flying straight towards the lion.
Unfazed by his own attacks being turned against him, the emitter lion just used his "Beast King Flying Claws" again and produced more slashes that collided with the ones flying towards him and caused them to explode in the air into dots of nen. Then he dashed forward, and he produced jets of nen through the bottom of his feet, using them as a burst to propel himself high into the air, and swinging his claws again and sending more slashes towards Tem.
The conjurer alpaca materialized another cloth, and this one he rode on the back, balancing on top of it as it floated above the air and avoided the attacks as the lion continued to make them.
The feline growled and snarled as he swung his claws over and over, sending more and more slashes after the alpaca, only for him to fly out of the way on the back of his cloth. The slashes flew past the alpaca and, thanks to the properties of the arena they were in, were neutralized as soon as they reached the edge of the ring, vanishing harmlessly.
This was a feature that the dojo was given so the people around them watching the training would not be in danger of being hit by a stray nen beam from an emitter. After all, no need for anyone other than the ones sparring to be victim of violence, right?
This meant the lion did not held back, as he swung his claws wildly in Tem's direction, sending more and more slashes towards him, seeming not worried about depleting his nen reserves as he seemed to only be interested in bringing his enemy down as fast as he could and get the battle over with.
Tem dodged his attacks the best he could, always keeping within the confines of the ring, as he knew that his Flying Cloth would vanish if he passed it. However, he could only dodge the attacks to a certain extent, and eventually, some of the slashes came too close for comfort, grazing on his body and ripping his top, as well as the cloth he was riding on.
Luckily, Tem was able to avoid a fall by using a long cloth connected to his wrist to swing from one of the five pillars round the ring, managing to land safely on his feet, before he had to quickly jump out of the way as more slashes were sent his way as the lion continued to attack him. Those slashes were strong enough to leave deep scratch marks on the pillars behind Tem as he jumped out of the way, the alpaca knew he did not want to be hit by one of those.
Tem managed to hide behind one of the pillars, while the lion continued to swing his claws and send flying slashes of aura in direction to the pillar, carving more and more scratches into the solid rock while Tem quickly formulated a plan on how to proceed.
He knew that he had to put an end to this as quickly as possible. However, his style of fighting was not particularly aggressive. Not as much as this lion's anyways. Tem's fighting style was closer to that of a pacifist, if anything.
"Classic herbivore style", was how some of the carnivores called it, even though some carnivores also chose the pacifist approach...
What could he do? Tem was the kind who preferred to solve his battles without having to hurt others. Like he pretended to do with this lion as well.
"Quit hiding!" Milo roared as he dashed forward, using bursts of mana from his feet to propel himself forward like a rocket, and he quickly closed the distance between himself and the pillar, quickly moving around it with a raised hand ready to swipe his claws when he saw... nothing.
The alpaca was gone!
"What the!?" Milo said, looking to the sides, trying to find out where the alpaca went. He then remembered that the alpaca could summon a mantle that made him invisible. Was he using it to hide? Of course, that was the kind of thing an herbivore would do! They were all cowards who ran and hid at the first trouble!
"Hey!"
The voice was Tem's, and it immediately put Milo into attention, causing him to look to all sides, before he realized that the voice was coming from up.
He looked up, to see Tem up there, keeping himself into the pillar with a long cloth tied to the top and using it as a rope. On his other hand, was another cloth, with metal weights on the four corners, which he quickly shot at the lion.
Milo tried to swipe his claws, but it was too late now. The cloth had got him, wrapping itself around his body like an amoeba enveloping a smaller creature it was trying to consume. It hugged the lion snuggly, fitting around his body as its four ends, armed with the metal weights, entangled with each other and wrapped the cloth around the lion like a mortuary shroud.
The lion struggled, he squirmed, he let our muffled roars and curses as the cloth trapped him inside. And, of course, he tried to activate his nen, only to find out he was unable to.
He didn't want to accept it, but it was over for him now. For this was Tem's Capture Cloth, a special cloth he figured out how to conjure that, once wrapped around the target, made them incapable of escaping through any means.
The one enveloped by the cloth could not rip it with brute strength, and neither they could damage it in any way with their claws, teeth, or any other natural weapon. Even their ability to use their nen was limited, as their nen was forced into their body and they were unable to release it, rendering them unable to use any kind of technique.
Of course, this cloth only worked if the target's entire body was enveloped. If any part of the body was left out in the open, be it a head, a hand, a tail, even a toe, then the cloth will not activate its containing properties, and the target would be able to break free from it rather easily.
This was a limitation that Tem had placed on the cloth intentionally, after he learned during classes that imposing restrictions and limitations on one's own nen techniques effectively increased their power. In doing so, he made it that, once a victim was truly enshrouded by his Capture Cloth, they would not be able to escape through any means, unless Tem decided to set them free.
And this lion just had every bit of his body enveloped by the cloth, turning him into a squirming mummy who was soon falling into the ground, flailing like a worm as he still tried to free himself, roaring every single swear word he knew which were all, thankfully, muffled into unintelligibleness by the cloth covering his muzzle.
Kazma looked as Tem came down from the pillar and just stood by the squirming lion, who continued to trash and flail for nearly two minutes, before he finally grunted and just laid still on the ground.
He had given up. The battle was over.
"And the winner is Tem!" Kazma announced. With this, their sparring was truly over.
In a second, Tem dismissed his Capture Cloth, making it disintegrate into the air and freeing the lion, who was soon on his hands and knees, and slamming his fist into the ground.
"You okay?" Tem said, offering a hand to help him get up. Milo answered by slapping his hand away and getting on his feet. Before making it out of the ring, he turned to Tem, and growled:
"This is just a sparring. If we were in a real fight, I would have torn you apart."
Tem could only look at the lion as he walked away. Meanwhile, Kazma came by his side.
"Well, he's a sore loser, isn't he?" The rabbit said, before turning to Tem. "Good job, kid."
"Thank you, Kazma-sensei."
The rabbit nodded at him and dismissed the alpaca with a gesture of his head. As Tem made it out of the ring, the other students who had been watching had their eyes on him, and they were talking among themselves.
"Man, he totally got Milo."
"Told you that alpaca was good."
"Well, he is not Louis-senpai good though..."
"Still good."
"Yeah, he is really strong. For an herbivore, I mean."
"What was that? Want to try your luck, big guy?"
"Now, for the next ones sparring!" Kazma said, silencing his students as he checked on his clipboard.
"Dundy the Capybara and Legoshi the Gray Wolf!"
Soon, the capybara whose name was called was making his way down in a hurried step. He seemed to be in a rush to be there, perhaps because he wanted to try out his new skills. He did, after all, only awakened his nen abilities last week, and this was basically his first actual combat training.
But the other called animal did not showed up.
"Legoshi the Gray Wolf?" Kazma called again. No answer.
"Has anyone seen Legoshi the Gray Wolf?"
People started to look around. Even Tem, who had just been sitting by Legoshi's side before his name was called could not see him anywhere.
"He is hiding again..." Kazma said, and he closed his eyes, focusing.
Soon, he was spreading his perception across the room. He could feel the aura of every single one of the students in there. From the biggest elephant in the room to the smallest kangaroo mouse. He could feel the all. And, among them, was a certain aura that was so faint it was barely even perceptible, but it was there, and it was an aura that Kazma learned to recognize.
"Line H. Row 9." He pointed at a certain location. "That's where you are, Legoshi."
There was a bit of silence, before the figure on the place Kazma pointed sighed.
"Why does he always have to find me?"
And then, as if by magic, a wolf was in there. It was not as if he materialized out of nowhere in a flash. It was just that he was there all along, and the others just didn't notice him.
"Okay, quit stalling, puppy boy!" Kazma said. "Get your sorry tail down here! You have to spar with your partner!"
Legoshi looked down, and he made his way down to the arena, where the capybara was already waiting, in some exaggerated, fancy fighting pose, as if daring the wolf to come and face him.
"Okay, both of you, a clean fight!" Kazma said, and he turned to the wolf. "Legoshi, this is his first battle, so go easy on him!"
"No! Don't go easy!" The capybara said, "I can handle this guy! Come at me with all you've got!"
"Okay then, get ready!" Kazma said, and Legoshi, seeing no other choice, got in position. He already had a plan.
"Fight!"
The battle was over in sixty seconds flat.
Dundy the Capybara won.
Legoshi's performance was... well, calling it "pitiful" would have been kind.
"Okay then Legoshi!" Kazma said, as the wolf got up. "Maybe next time you can go a little harder on your adversary!"
"What the heck was that!?"
"Man, that was so lame!"
"How did a big wolf like that lost to a small capybara!?"
"I think the best question would be how a guy on the second year lost to a freshman who just awakened his nen abilities!"
"Didn't the wolf awake his nen by himself before he even came to Cherryton? Wasn't he supposed to be a genius or something?"
"Well, if he is, then he is a pretty bad genius. I mean, the guy sucks at everything!"
"He can't even fight properly! He always loses his sparring matches!"
"And half of the times is because he does something like tripping on his own feet or stepping out of the circle without noticing it! Not only the guy is a wimp, he is also a total clutz!"
"Kind of makes me embarrassed to be a wolf."
"Nice going, dingus! Way to embarrass carnivores everywhere!"
"Okay, all of you! That's enough!" Kazma said, "We are not done with today's training yet! All of you, focus! So, sparring next..."
Kazma managed to distract everyone from the wolf, who walked back all the where he was sitting just before and sat right by Tem's side. The alpaca was still looking at Legoshi as he sat by him...
"Hey, Legoshi?"
"Hm?"
"Don't you get tired of always losing on purpose?"
That question made Legoshi pause and look at Tem. The alpaca was looking at him in the eyes as they both stopped, and Legoshi quickly looked away.
"I... don't know what you mean..."
"I mean that you lost on purpose when you fought the capybara." Tem said. "Like you do on literally every battle you go into. You always lose on purpose, and you find a way to make it look natural. Like back then when you acted like you were reaching for your wallet after dropping it and let the capybara kick you out of the ring."
Legoshi unconsciously rubbed his butt, which the capybara had hit with his foot hard when he literally kicked Legoshi right out of the ring. Landing on his face was less painful than the kick.
"I was not pretending." Legoshi said, "I am just not good at fighting. That's why I always try to hide."
"Legoshi, everyone thinks you are weak and clumsy, but I know that's not true." Tem said to him. "I know how good you are. How strong you are."
Legoshi looked away.
"I am not strong. I... I am just a wimp, like everyone says. I can't use my nen in combat to save my life." Legoshi said. "I can use it to make the bugs we use for effects in Drama Club, but that's not the same as using them for combat. It doesn't mean I am strong."
Tem continued to look at him.
"You are right, it doesn't." The alpaca agreed. "But defeating those warbeasts two years ago does. The ones that escaped from their cages and rampaged across the school, remember?"
Legoshi's head whipped to look at Tem, who was staring back at him with that same expression.
"I... could never have done that. It was Kazma-sensei who killed the warbeasts." Legoshi said.
"Legoshi-kun, you can stop." Tem was still looking at him as he said that. "I know it was you who killed the warbeasts. It was you who saved me."
"No, it wasn't." Legoshi said, "Tem, you don't know what you are saying. You were unconscious back then."
"No, I wasn't." Tem said, and this caused the wolf to look at him in surprise. "I was awake all the time. I just laid on the ground without moving because I was too scared, but I was awake and I saw what happened. I know the truth, Legoshi."
He gave a step closer to the wolf.
"I know how strong you truly are."
Legoshi only looked at the alpaca. He didn't know what to say. Perhaps that was why he said nothing, only looking away. He did, however, not bothered coming with excuses.
"But you chose to let everyone think that it was Kazma-sensei who killed the warbeasts." Tem said. "I didn't understand why. I still don't. Legoshi, when I hear them saying that you are a wimp, it just sounds wrong. Because you saved my life two years ago. You were so amazing. After that happened, all I knew was that I wanted to be as cool and strong as you. That's why I started investing so much on training. You are my hero, Legoshi-kun."
The wolf could not help but blush at this, and Tem placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Why you don't want everyone to see how cool you are?"
Legoshi looked at Tem again.
"Because I never asked to be awesome." He said sadly. "I just wanted to be normal."
Legoshi realized, a bit too late, that this could sound bad as he said it. He then looked away, apologizing Tem for the poor wording, and just said that he didn't wanted to be famous or admired by others, and that he just wanted a peaceful life.
"Yeah, I guess a lot of people want that." Tem said, "But, it is hard for nen-users to have normal lives. Some even say that the danger seems to be lured to us."
"But still, I want to try and have a normal life." Legoshi said. "A life without all that violence and danger. That's all I want."
And then, Legoshi thought to himself:
A life where I will never meet him again...
"Well, if that's what you want, then I hope you get it in the end." Tem said to Legoshi.
"But I also hope that, one day, everyone gets to see how cool and amazing you are."
Legoshi looked at the alpaca once more.
"Tem..."
"Well, we better get going now, right?" The herbivore said, patting the wolf in the shoulder. "We cannot arrive late. We both have a lot to do to prepare for the Adler play, right? Louis-senpai will be mad if we get late for rehearsal."
And, with that, the two of them went to club, where their respective activities waited for them.
Legoshi was soon working on his usual spot up above, as he was the one responsible for the electrical equipment, including the spotlights. He would often be up there and use Zetsu to become imperceptible, looking at everything from above while no one saw him or noticed his presence.
It would not be too far-fetched to call him a ghost member, despite him being into club nearly every single day, unless he got very sick.
He nearly felt like a voyeur as he stood over there, watching everyone down the club while remaining out of sight from everyone. He watched as Louis-senpai rehearsed a little far away from the others.
And he watched as Bill discussed with Aoba and Tao. He seemed upset. Maybe at the fact that he had still not managed to awake his nen abilities. Although, from the feels Legoshi was getting from the tiger from where he was standing, he had the impression his nen abilities would be awakening anytime now, and they just needed a little push...
And, of course, there was Tem, who was rehearsing while looking at Els from a distance. Legoshi looked at him, wondering if it would be today that he would finally give her the letter.
As it turned out, it wasn't.
Tem was on the male dressing room at the end of the day, the unopened letter still on his hands as he looked at it, before sighing and placing it on his locker.
"Still didn't gave it to her?" Legoshi asked, causing Tem to jump back slightly as the wolf showed himself to him.
"O-oh! Legoshi-kun!" Tem said, looking at the wolf. "No, it wasn't today. The time wasn't right. But I will be doing it tomorrow for sure! I will definitely tell her how I feel!"
Tem was smiling confidently as he said those words, and Legoshi hoped that he was right. That he would truly be able to give her his letter and confide his feelings to her.
But he never did.
Legoshi opened his eyes, as he came back from the reminiscing of that day.
The last day he saw Tem alive.
And now, there he was, before the sealed doors of the same lecture room where Tem met his end. The room had been sealed after Tem's body was discovered and the police and the schoolboard ended the investigations. With no suspects being apprehended.
Legoshi looked at the picture of the familiar alpaca, smiling like he always did. This was the only way Legoshi would ever see his smile again. Through a picture.
And it was the only way he would be talking with him as well.
Tem, I gave her your letter. You can rest in peace now. Legoshi thought, looking at the picture while he focused his nen. Some people said that it was possible to send messages to those on the other side I they so desired. It was only a rumor, but it was a belief that was well-spread enough that it was almost natural for nen users to focus their nen while praying to a dead relative or friend.
Legoshi was not sure if he believed in that, but he did hope that his thoughts could reach Tem, wherever he was.
You said I was your hero... but, I could not save you from whoever attacked you... I... am sorry. Legoshi's hand clenched on a fist, as his heart clenched as well. I am sorry I could not protect you. That I could not save you... just like I could not save my mom...
The wolf was tense as he thought that. He always got tense and sad as he thought of his mother. Which was why he mostly avoiding thinking about her altogether.
Sometimes, however, the memories were just too hard to avoid...
Then, he felt something else. Someone was approaching. He could feel their nen as they made their way there, and it felt familiar.
"Louis-senpai..."
The wolf did not move, instead lowering his head as he felt the deer coming closer and closer, until he could hear his footsteps and smell that fancy cologne that he always wore.
The deer placed something that smelled nice in the grave, and Legoshi knew it were flowers.
After placing the bouquet down, Louis remained on his knees, his head bowed, and his eyes closed as he silently prayed for Tem as well.
Legoshi could not help but look his way. There had always been something about Louis that demanded attention. Perhaps it was the fact that his aura was so strong, or that he was the most talented and impressive beast of their club.
And he certainly looked like he enjoyed being the center of attention.
He truly was Legoshi's polar opposite in a lot of ways.
"I was hoping to find you." Louis said to the wolf, surprising him and making him quickly look away as he tried to make it look like he was not just staring at the deer, who was one of their school's beastar candidates.
"It is nearly impossible to find you at club, how you always hide yourself from detection." Louis said, his head still low. "That's why I was hoping to find you before you arrived and started lurking in the shadows."
"There... there is something you wish to talk to me about, senpai?" Legoshi asked. To that, Louis scoffed.
"Well, that's obvious, ain't it?"
Legoshi did looked down at this. After nearly a minute, the deer got up.
"Come with me. And don't disappear until I say you can."
Legoshi did as he asked. When a senpai, more than that, when a Cherryton beastar candidate asked you to do something, you did it. That was common knowledge among the people of the school.
So, Legoshi followed behind him like an obedient little puppy while Louis led him forward. They went all the way to the club, where they met everyone gathering around a certain beast...
"And THAT'S how it's done!" Bill said, as he caused the fire on his hand to take the form of a pyramid. "Ha ha! Now that's the stuff!"
Everyone looked at the tiger as he did a show to them, like he had been doing for a while before Louis and Legoshi arrived.
"Hey, all of you!" Louis said to the animals gathering there. "What do you think you are doing?"
"Bill is just showing us what he can do with his aura." Moro said, "It is really cool."
"It sure is!" Bill said as he closed his fist, having all of it coated into his aura, which was like literal fire, letting out heat and everything. "My Tiger Blaze is awesome!"
It was obvious that Bill was still pumped up about finally having woke up his nen abilities, being on his second-to-last year in Cherryton. He had, after all, always wanted this to happen to him, and had been frustrated about not having awakened his nen yet.
"Yes, yes, Bill has finally joined the rest of us as a proper nen user. Very good, but in case you all have forgotten, we still have a play to prepare to." Louis said to the small group. "If all of you can stop to ogle over Bill, then this means you have enough time to focus on the play. Now all of you, go back to work! And Bill, stop playing with your aura! If you set the room on fire, you can bet I will be writing a letter to the schoolboard about you!"
With that said, Louis continued his way to his office with Legoshi, while Bill glared his way.
"You are envious because my nen abilities are way cooler than yours!" Bill said, his aura igniting as it turned into flames around him in answer to his emotional state.
"How do you have so much control over it when you gained them literally yesterday?" Tao asked to the tiger.
"Oh, the teachers say it is because I spent so much time thinking about what my abilities would be when I finally gained them." Bill said, "I used to think about it when I meditated ever since we took the test and they found out I am a transmuter. I always thought that, when I woke my nen and could control my I aura, I would give it fire properties like Limo the Sun Bear. I thought about it so much that my subconscious imprinted that into my aura before it even awakened, and I could do a lot of the things I planned with it right away."
Bill seemed quite proud of himself as he explained that to everyone. After all, he did invest a lot of time into meditation to try and induce his nen to awake on the last five years.
"And you can fire your aura into others?" Els asked, and Bill confirmed.
"Yup! They confirmed! I am a transmuter with an extra affinity for emission! I am a double threat! Man, I can't wait for my first sparring session! Oh, I can totally see myself setting someone's tail on fire!"
"You know you are supposed to avoid causing real damage in sparring, right?" Fudge asked. "Arlo, I didn't know they classified you as a transmuter with the test. I mean, you didn't strike me as a weirdo who would hide your real personality behind a front. But I guess you are supposed to be a whimsical liar too, right?"
"Wha-?" Bill looked at the red panda. "Wait, are you talking about that personality test thing? Man, that's total bogus! It's like trying to guess someone's blood-type based on personality alone!"
While Bill discussed with Fudge the validity of a test to determine what kind of nen user someone would be based on their personality traits that someone posted online a couple years ago, Louis took Legoshi all the way to his office, what some of the club members noticed.
Luckily, Louis closed the door behind himself, allowing some privacy for the two beasts. Well, that would in truth be three. Because Zoe the Goat was in there as well.
Louis informed Legoshi that Zoe would be the one taking over Tem's role on the play.
Well, that makes sense. Legoshi thought. Zoe, much like Bill, was a transmuter. He could change his nen to give it the properties of a viscous fluid, which he could then control while keeping it connected to his body. He certainly would make a convincing water spirit.
However, it soon became clear that Zoe could not memorize his lines properly, and that Louis was not happy about it at all.
So much that he grabbed the goat's face and admonished him for eating the script.
"You are a nen user." Louis said, a palpable hostility emanating from him. "You should be able to resist your instinctual urges, not surrender to them like a poor chump and go around eating every piece of paper you can get your hands on."
Zoe shivered as he felt it.
He could sense it emanating from Louis.
The bloodlust.
Legoshi could feel it as well. It was a way of using one's nen. To charge it with all of one's hostile thoughts and emotions and project it outwards as a form of intimidation. It was a way of avoiding battle completely by inducing fear into others, like puffing one's chest and growling loudly to look threatening.
Louis could be an herbivore, but many on the school said that his bloodlust was stronger and more intimidating than that of most carnivores. That was one of the reasons why even most carnivores of the school were hesitant to confront him.
"Most" being the keyword here.
"Yoh, Louis!" Kai slammed the door open as he made it into the office, causing Louis' bloodlust to diminish as he focused his attention on the weasel. "What is that I hear about you making Zoe Tem's replacement!? Are you serious!?"
Kai didn't seem to relent even when he saw that Louis was having a meeting with Zoe and Legoshi. The deer admonished the weasel for barging in, before dismissing Zoe, who quickly left the office and closed the door behind himself.
"What is this about making that paper eater the replacement!?" Kai demanded. "What, just because he has that particular style of nen that can pass by water!? Are you serious!? You should not base your decision only on that! That guy has the stage presence of a pickle! I would make a much better water spirit than him!"
Louis scoffed at that. Then he brought about Kai's last two performances on Drama Club, being sure to make it clear how those two instances were fiascos.
"Which is why I am moving you to the stagehands." Louis announced, much to Kai's absolute shock.
"I already talked to Sano-san over this, as well as to the other senior members. Dom is ready to give you a rundown of the responsibilities of your new position. I recommend you go talk to him as soon as you get out of this office. You will certainly be more useful there than as an actor. Perhaps that would be a better use of your skills."
As the deer said that, Kai's shock turned into rage. The weasel reacted before Louis could, as he pointed the index and middle fingers of his left hand at him and, with a cry of range, he propelled a beam of focused nen straight at the deer.
That was when Legoshi, sensing the increased activity of Kai's aura, reacted quickly.
He stepped on the way of the beam, lifting his fist, coated in its' own layer of nen, and used it to parry the beam.
"Kai..." Legoshi said, looking at the weasel as he still had a raised fist. "What do you think you are doing?" Behind him, Louis was watching in shock.
The way he blocked it... was it reinforcement? Or was it transmutation?
No. It was... aura. Just plain and simple aura. Focused on Legoshi's fist at such density it became like a barrier that he used to block Kai's nen beam.
And that was no small feat, for anyone.
"Get out of the way, Legoshi!" Kai demanded, his hand still raised, and the tips of his fingers glowing as he held them forward in a gun gesture, ready to fire once more as a dot of nen focused on their tip. "I am going to teach this arrogant asshole a lesson!"
"Kai, lower your fingers now..." Legoshi said, glaring at the weasel with a cold intensity. "You are not supposed to use your nen against another student, unless it is in a sparring practice. Especially if it is a club member. It is a breach of the school's code, and you could be expelled for doing this."
"I don't care!" Kai said, getting ready to fire.
"You are a stagehand now, Kai." Legoshi said, his gaze growing colder. "The wellbeing of the actors should be one of your top priorities, and Louis is the leading actor. Lower. Your. Hand."
"Screw you!" Kai said, as the nen on the tips of his fingers focused even more. He was getting ready to fire another beam, and this time he would not miss. For Kai could control his nen shots after firing them, making them perform sharp turns into the air. He just needed to maneuver his beam around that wolf and he would be hitting Louis for sure!
Although, right now, he was also willing to hit that wolf for daring to stand on his way.
He didn't even care if he was kicked out of club or even expelled. He at least would have the satisfaction of scoring a hit on that arrogant deer.
However, that plan was soon forgotten.
For on that moment, a bloodlust that greatly surpassed Louis' own was felt into the room. One that was so intense that both the weasel and the deer nearly pissed themselves as they felt it.
And it was coming from Legoshi.
It didn't leak out of the room, and it only lasted for two or three seconds, but it was enough to throw Kai completely off balance, causing him to stumble back while looking at the wolf in shock, while Legoshi continued to glare at him with coldness.
"Go now, Kai." Legoshi said, "Go talk to Dom-senpai and ask him to introduce you to the stagehands' jobs."
"Y-yes..." That was all that Kai, still shaken, managed to say as he made his way out of the office.
After a few seconds, Legoshi sighed.
"Well, I will be going too."
The wolf was already on his way out, when he was stopped by something grabbing the tip of his tail.
"I didn't say you could leave." Louis told to the wolf, who had stopped on his tracks and was looking back at him.
"I have to say." Louis spoke, "What just happened was... pretty interesting."
Legoshi looked down to the ground.
"I'm... sorry about that. I... just wanted him to stop."
"Could you always focus nen with such density?" Louis asked of the wolf. "And was your bloodlust always that strong?"
"I... was just reacting." Legoshi said, looking away.
"So, it was instinctive? Is that so?" Louis said to him. "I have to say, it was quite impressive. Especially for someone like you, who is known around the school for your mediocre performance as a nen user."
He then made Legoshi turn around and look at him.
"This was probably the first time you actually seemed to be the type of talented individual who awakened your nen by yourself at a young age."
Those words from the deer made Legoshi uncomfortable.
"There... is nothing special about me." The wolf said.
"Tem didn't seem to think so." Louis said, and that caused the wolf to look at him.
"Two years ago, he went around telling everyone that you were actually the strongest student in school." Louis said, "No one believed him because of how pathetic you were on training, but he kept saying it to whoever wanted to hear. And he told off anyone who offended you, even here on club. You should have heard the things he said to Ellie that time she called you a pathetic weakling..."
Louis leaned forward, looking at the wolf dead in the eye.
"You know, Tem was not the type to make things up. He always seemed to be sure of what he was talking about when he spoke of how strong you were..."
Legoshi looked at Louis, at his knowing gaze, before looking away.
"Now, for why I brought you here..." Louis said, and he informed Legoshi that, since Zoe could not memorize his lines, he would be taking him to the auditorium after hours to practice. And that Legoshi would be coming with them.
"No one will be able to sense me and Zoe inside the auditorium." Louis said to him. "You will stay by the door and use Zetsu to remain hidden. If you sense anyone approaching, you go inside and let us know. You will be the watchdog, so to speak. Think you can do that?"
Legoshi even tried to protest, but Louis easily silenced him with a hard look in the eyes and grabbing his tie to pull him closer.
"Tonight, after curfew." Louis said to the wolf. "Don't you dare stand me up."
And Legoshi could do nothing more than to tell Louis he would be there...