Back again for a long chapter this time. This chapter is quite important to this rewrite but also a chapter for Legoshi's character. I really enjoyed this chapter and was reminiscent of chapter eight from season one. I love slower chapters it's like spending quality time with a friend of sorts. The next chapter focuses more on Louis.

-MalMetal

CHAPTER 31: Guardian in Black n' White

Legoshi tied his shoes, then rechecked his outfit in case of lint. He wore a light red sweater with dark blue jeans and white shoes. A light gray backpack strapped to his back completed his outfit, its soft coloring matched his equally unenthused expression.

"You're hanging out with friends, not a girl, so you don't have to make sure you look good," Durham said, tapping away on a gaming controller while everyone else in the room.

"I don't wanna make a bad impression, that's all."

"You're leaving a bad impression on us by skipping the raid tonight! We're supposed to beat the final three bosses of Last Fox Ronin before the sequel comes out!" Collot turned his head briefly to complain at Legoshi. He, Jack, Miguno, and Voss all groan as Durham dies, leading to a small argument breaking out in a bid for who got to play next. Legoshi's eyes looked a bit saddened but Jack gave him a thumbs up and a smile. He mouthed the words "get going" which pushed his friend out the door. Before long, Legoshi had made it to the lobby of his dorms where Bill, Aoba, Riz, and Tao awaited him.

"What took you so long?" Bill asked.

"Sorry."

"It's whatever, let's go," Bill said, leading Tao and Aoba out of the dormitory. Riz came to Legoshi's side, walking outside with him. They followed a few feet behind their clubmates who were looking at women or talking about anything and everything they saw. Meanwhile, Riz and Legoshi's conversation was much more reserved.

"So Tem ended up spending the night in your dorm?"

"Yeah, he kept asking so I couldn't turn him away. I set him up new sheets in one of my friends' rooms and told him we could only do it one night. Sneaking him into the carnivore dorms was hard as is, keeping him there with the house mother and security patrolling made things harder. He wanted to explore the dorms, watch videos, play games, and everything in between. I love having him around but sometimes he can be like an energetic younger brother." Riz sighed aloud and caught a glimpse of Legoshi's attentive eyes before they returned to himself. "Did I say too much?"

"No, you just looked happy so it made me happy. You guys get along really well, more than I thought. It's good to see a normal friendship despite differences."

"You're our friend too. Don't forget we're supposed to eat together again sometime soon. I hope we can, especially before school starts up again." Riz smirked to himself.

"Hey you two, we're going into the mall, wanna come?" Aoba pointed to a large gray building containing several different stores. Riz and Legoshi quickly followed inside to catch up with their friends.

As quickly as they entered their interest was piqued. Legoshi and Riz couldn't help themselves going into different stores to see clothes, footwear, books, and movies for sale. They had similar tastes in footwear and clothing brands but were complete opposites concerning movie tastes and book genres. Still, they were able to bounce off each other perfectly. Bill, Aoba, and Tao saw their chemistry as a bit alienating because they had invited them to know the two better. Soon the two broke from each other to come back as a group. Which led to them breaking for lunch at a nearby food court.

They sparked a small conversation about soccer players and who the best was which Riz knew a decent bit about, much to Tao and Aoba's surprise. Bill got caught up looking at different women, asking Legoshi if he saw any girls he liked. Although initially flustered, he did blush at a few who looked back at him with some giving a small wave.

"Why dontcha go talk to 'em?"

"I'm not interested."

"C'mon, you're going to be a virgin for the rest of your life if you don't take chances. Don't even get me started on a woman loving you." Bill sighed as he ate some of Legoshi's leftover fries.

"Why can't he see that I'm not like other carnivores?"

"I get you're not like us I'm not asking you to be but at least try to get along with us more, y'know?"

"He totally read my mind. He's way more perceptive than I gave him credit for."

"That's why I'm here. My grandfather thought I should get out more and get more friends. "Out of my comfort zone" is how he worded it."

"I get what you mean, my ma told me to stop being so mean and act nicer to everyone coming into this academy. Really had no choice but to listen to her. She's sacrificed a lot to get me into a good school." Bill's honesty broke his serious face a little.

"My grandfather is putting me through school now, well he's always been there to do that, honestly."

"What about your mom?"

"She was sick growing up and ended up dying when I turned twelve. I never got to know her well, my grandfather was there for me. She was just… stuck in her room all the time." Legoshi looked at his reflection in his cup of water.

"Chin up man, my dad wasn't around much either. He wasn't sick but he didn't stick around long after I was born. He popped up every now and again to pay my mom money but that was it. So, I understand you a little!" Bill's accompanying wink and smirk made Legoshi genuinely feel warm, even so, he didn't smile.

"Do you ever smile?"

"Not really."

"Let's change that one day. How about it?"

"If you can, I don't mind. Though it'll probably be a waste of time, I'm not the emotional type."

"No kiddin'."

"Oh! I didn't know it was this late. I'm sorry you guys, I have to head back to school so I can finish this project due. See you guys later." Riz left, giving Legoshi a pat on his shoulder.

"I guess that's our queue to get going," Bill said.

"If we're going back then I'll tell Riz-"

"No, we aren't going back to school just yet. We've got one more place to go before you ask, it's a surprise." Bill once again led the group to their final destination. They walked for ten minutes or so before a distinct smell invaded Legoshi's nose making him a bit nauseous. He assumed it to be some type of garbage nearby but noticed it kept getting stronger with every few steps. His muscles began to twitch and his nose began to dance to the scent's tune, nausea completely left him, being changed to a small hunger. Legoshi, Bill, Aoba, and Tao made it to a small staircase. Atop the last step was a market filled with adults, meat-filled stalls, and that scent.

"Here we are. Where we become adults." Bill grinned from ear to ear, Tao seemed more overwhelmed than deterred, but Aoba seemed a bit shaky. Legoshi could see the faces of people in his club flashing at a rapid pace until-

"This is wrong." Bill stood straight and looked at Legoshi, his eyes were sharp like knives.

"You're serious? Look around you! Every carnivore comes here to eat, to be themselves!" Bill's index finger shifted Legoshi's eyes to the reality around him. His nostrils welcomed the smell of meat all around him again. Small fantasies of devouring raw meat off their hooks in stalls completely eroded his rational mind for a moment. He shook his head and covered his nose.

"Legoshi, you think adult carnivores are calm because they resist their instincts? That we're supposed to live with a chip on our shoulders until we become killers? No. The Black Market exists to help us. Everyone tells us that this place is wrong but it's how we grow up as carnivores. Those same people, those same animals who tell us what to do and not to do aren't different from us. They did the same." Bill places a hand on Legoshi's shoulder.

"Let's grow up together." Aoba looked at Bill with uncertain eyes but he couldn't bring himself to voice his concerns. He watched Bill guide their way into the Black Market, moving to a stall that had cooked meat going for a cheap price. Legoshi remained hesitant but Bill eased him into it. The friends sat at a nearby table with their "food". Bill dug into his small deer cutlet while Legoshi stared down into the broth on his plate blankly.

"You're thinking too much," Bill spoke in between bites. He saw the hesitation of his friend and rose from his seat, cut a piece of meat off his friend's cutlet, and wrapped Legoshi's hand around his fork.

"This is who we are, Legoshi. This is what carnivores do." Everyone ate so peacefully as if it was normal, everyday behavior. Legoshi could see Louis' face over and over in his mind, and Bill echoed louder and louder in his mind. Swallowing all hesitation, Legoshi did as he was told, he acted like the carnivore he was. Before he knew it, he'd cleared his plate.

"Damn, you cleaned that fast! So, what'd you think?" Legoshi felt her head begin to ache. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears, and his breathing picked up pace.

"Hey-" Legoshi slapped Aoba's hand away.

"I'm fine. I just need some- air!" The wolf got to his feet and scampered away. Bill quickly gave chase but as soon as he moved to catch up he'd lost him almost immediately. The wolf could feel his muscles twitching, his mouth watering, his eyes burning. Every voice becomes a noise in his ears. Nothing could be identified in detail except his route out of the public view.

"Who… are you?" The mass smiled, showing white teeth and bright red eyes. As if coming out of a cocoon, its scribbled skin peeled off around its right eye. Beneath it laid Legoshi's eye in perfect help but with a maniacal glint shined bright in those small black irises. The red transferred fully into Legoshi's right eye as he stared in abject horror at the beast from within.

"Hah. I'm you of course. The part of you you've denied for soooo long. We can now be one!" With that declaration, the veins became much more prominent in the wolf's arms, throat, and head. Saliva flowed like an uncontrolled river. Muscles grew bigger than before, nearly doubling in size to the point they looked synthetic. Groans of pain could be heard from his muzzle, his stomach growled and his eyes burned. He curled into a ball, trying to control his urge to consume. His senses began to sharpen, he could taste the disgusting aroma of moldy garbage. He could feel moving feet from afar and hear his friends calling out to him. Stress on his heart built to a point that was unsustainable by any normal animal because of this sensory overload. Legoshi's eyes were losing their innocent white, snuffed out by carnivorous red.

"Ge-guh, ough of my head!" A flood of saliva slurred Legoshi's speech. He could feel himself slipping more and more. Hunger is building more and more. Fingernails dug into the concrete like stakes of metal bleeding out the same hue corrupting his eyes. All the while the mass began to move from his host's visage to an exact copy.

"Don't fight me. Accept me. Whether you see it or not we've always been one! From your birth I have existed, lurking in your shadow, feeding from imagination. I am the reason you have eaten, I am the reason you are seeing the truth!"

"No. No! NO!" Against his cries, the wolf's eyes became completely red. A syringe dug into his exposed neck. He immediately fell unconscious almost like he had died. The panda wiped off his syringe before a metal casing covered it.

"What a mess." He sighed to himself.

Smooth a train on its stainless tracks. Glide does its wheels on its linear path across Japan, only ever seeing the small embers of what lines beyond those in city tracks. Wondering of its potential, wondering of a city beyond this one. One day it will see a world beyond, one day it will understand a potential it was denied. It will fear how different and dangerous the outside world truly is. Until then, it will be confined here. Dreaming of a world beyond comprehension in scope and cruelty.

Legoshi opened his eyes to a dark room. His eyes immediately adjusted to the darkness and observed its structure. A chair sat before him, curtains hung behind it, and a door to the left of them. He banged his head on a metal pipe behind him when he tried to turn. He looked at his hands, they were cuffed together with a metal casing overtop his fingers. His throat was leashed by something cold when his neck folded over it. A panicked breath forced his nose to the metal cage around his mouth.

"Wh-what is all this?!" Legoshi tried to break free until a light shined on him from the door.

"I didn't expect the medicine to wear off so soon." A flashlight blinded the wolf. He couldn't recognize the scent of his captor.

"I don't know what's going on but you've got the wrong guy! I haven't done anything!" The panda pulled a string overhead that illuminated the room in a soft white light. He turned off his flashlight as he set up a camera from his bag.

"Please, let me go. I have to get back to my friends."

"You ate meat, you aren't innocent." Legoshi's mind remembered his harrowing transformation in full. He began paying closer attention to his body. His shirt and pants had small tears in them, his eyes felt overworked so too did his entire body.

"What are you talking about? That's not true. I wouldn't do that!" The panda scoffed, then dropped two photos at Legoshi's feet. One picture showed his body twice its current size. The other had one of his eyes open to show its tainted color.

"Denial always shows first. These photos are a result of your decision." Legoshi could hear his heart in his ears. The beats were of unimaginable volume and were not random but rhythmic with every face of every herbivore in his club. He could only wonder why he did it. Moreover, he wondered why he ached for more. Chewy muscle, blood's iron taste, crunching bones like pencils in hand. His pupils shook viciously and a black air began drawing from his flesh. The panda bore witness to a fear he'd seen tens of times. He sighed, taking out another syringe and injected him again. Legoshi's body quickly loses consciousness only to awake again in the same spot with the same chains. He grasps his surroundings much faster this time, looking at the panda sitting in front of him.

"How do your muscles feel?"

"Fine… but a little bit sore," Legoshi muttered, refusing eye contact.

"You're different." The panda picked up the clipboard on his lap and flipped through some pages.

"In your sleep, you didn't exhibit any restlessness or rapid eye movement. Your pulse and breathing were normal for someone your age. You even began snoring a little bit. Those aren't actions of an animal craving meat or comfortable with eating it." The panda got up to open a nearby window, lighting a cigarette. "I'm gonna unlock you from that pole, can I trust you're not going to try to kill me?" Legoshi looks at the panda perplexed more than anything else.

"Why would I kill you?"

"Why wouldn't you, is a better question."

"I… I think I understand what you're doing. You're trying to save me from myself."

"Hm." The panda took another hit of his cigarette. "My name is Gohin, to you it's Dr. Gohin, I'm the guardian of the Black Market, got it? Now tell me your name."

"Legoshi." Gohin turned to Legoshi with a key from his pocket. He gets Legoshi to his feet, leaving his muzzle and cuffs on. Gohin motions for him to follow which he does, not complaining about how he was still bound. He follows Gohin to a metal door down a green wallpaper hallway that is unlocked and lit up by one lightbulb.

Upon entry, Legoshi sees multiple pictures of carnivores plagued by self-injury, red eyes, and enlarged muscles. He closed his eyes, turning from reality; Gohin gripped the back of his neck and peeled one of his eyes open to look at a wolf in a picture.

"This one ate her own arm because of her meat cravings. You may be different from her but do not make a mistake in thinking you are an exception to impulse. If you continue down this road of eating meat, you will be another picture of these walls."

"Who are they?!" Legoshi couldn't shake Gohin's iron grip.

"My patients who've died. Meat addiction created each and every set of eyes staring back at you right now. It steals away who you once were, replacing you with some falsified figure understood by no one but itself. I do what I can to save, however, often it's not enough." Gohin releases his hold on Legoshi. "I've only had a few become rehabilitated and I want you to be one of them. I'm going to trust that you're different because of my observations."

"I've never eaten meat until tonight, it wasn't raw. I got brought here by my friends and we-"

"You've got self-esteem issues don't you?" Legoshi's silence spoke volumes. Gohin let out a sigh and then unlocked his cuffs and muzzle.

"Let's go." Gohin walked down the hallway into a green apartment where he told Legoshi to sit. The wolf waited anxiously for Gohin to return until the wind from outside came in, and the moon greeted his eyes too. Instinctually, he let out a soothing howl for a few seconds.

"You've got a nice voice, kid." Gohin cut him off. "I still can't believe all of this is going so damn well."

"Your patients typically run away?"

"More likely to try and kill me. I'm stronger than them though." Gohin flexed his arm for Legoshi to see.

"W-were you trying to get me to fight you, earlier?"

"Of course not!" Gohin grumbled to himself as he finished boiling some water. He dropped some ginger, honey, and sugar into the water, stirred it, then poured it out into two cups. He handed off a cup to Legoshi and sat across from him.

"Ginger tea will help your taste buds start to get back to normal." Gohin gave Legoshi a caring look accompanied by an uncaring frown.

"How long won't I be able to taste for?"

"It varies for every patient. I'll give you some other things to quell your instincts whenever they flare up too. Do exactly as I say and you'll be fine in no time." Gohin got up to retrieve ginger tea packets, a pair of headphones, and a cassette player. "These are key to rehabilitation for you. You check in with me every day for the next few months unless I say otherwise. Understood?"

"After that, we talked for a while until he let me go back to everyone. For the rest of the summer, I checked in with him every day." Legoshi finished reminiscing.

"How can you still be friends with Bill after all that?" Juno asked innocently.

"I made a decision to eat, nobody else. I don't blame Bill for wanting to connect, I think it was the only way he knew how." Legoshi turns his eyes to Juno. "Is that good enough?"

"Don't treat me like some sort of chore!" Juno got to her feet in an annoyed haste. "Let's go eat together, you can get both of our trays to pay for your bad behavior."

"Why, do I have to?"

"Because I said so. Hurry up, you have to get changed." Juno grabbed Legoshi's left hand, bringing him closer to her. Soon, Legoshi was changed into his school uniform and joined by Juno on his way to the cafeteria.

"Legoshi," Juno said softly.

"Hm?"

"I'll always be on your side too. I'm glad that I met you." Legoshi's heart felt warm.

"I thought you might say something like that." Juno shot an annoyed look but his genuine smile quickly turned annoyance into admiration accompanied by a subdued attraction.