Everyone has to move on at some point.

Some find it hard, but you eventually have to move on.

Time is the best medicine, some say. It heals all wounds, they say.

Legoshi was not sure about that. However, as time passed, Legoshi felt that life was going back to some semblance of normalcy.

It had been a few days since the classes started again, and Legoshi proceeded as normal on his day-to-day routine. Just like everyone else, he woke up in the morning, ate his breakfast, went to classes, ate lunch, had a few more classes, had his afterschool club, had dinner, went back to his dorm to study and do his homework before crashing in bed and falling asleep, only to repeat everything on the following day.

This had been his routine for years, and it built up in a way that even the death of a friend from Drama Club seemed not to be able to shake it.

And, as routine continued, so did life.

It continued. It moved on. The world did not ended or stopped with Tem's death. The fear it caused subsided, even if slightly, as the students went back to worrying about exams and on trying to ask a girl out on a date. The fear of knowing the killer was still out there continued present, but it was moving to the backs of their minds slowly, as they focused on living the now.

Legoshi felt the tension on the school slowly dying away with each passing day. However, this did little to help the hybrid's ever-present tension. One that was with him far before Tem's death, and continued after it.

Yes, the tension of being around others and in fear of being discovered was a constant in Legoshi's mind.

It had been since he started in Cherryton, as his past experiences on his previous schools made him decide it was best to just hide his nature as a hybrid from everyone by whatever means necessary, so he would not have to go through all of that again.

So he would not have to be called a "chimera" again.

Legoshi shuddered as he sat on his place, right by that hen's side. He tried to focus on the lectures, to learn more about geography and the associated geopolitics and get his head out of those painful memories.

Those memories that would come back to drag him to that dark and ugly place again.

The memories that Legoshi would give anything to be able to forget.

Eventually, those memories would return to that area on the back of his head. Not forgotten, but at the very least they would not haunt his every waking moment. Legoshi would be able to move on with his life.

However, to move on from Tem's death, Legoshi would certainly take a while.

As the ball rang, signaling the end of the day's last class, Legoshi went out of his classroom alongside the mass of students, many of them going to have a day at their clubs. Legoshi was among them, as he had Drama Club to attend during the afternoon.

However, as he passed by a machine in the hallway, Legoshi stopped.

He looked at the machine for a while, and he decided that there was no problem in getting a little late for club.

Fumbling on his pockets, Legoshi produced a coin and placed it on the machine. Then he pressed a button, and the machine produced a low whirring, before dispensing a can, which Legoshi picked up.

Legoshi, with the can in hand, walked across the hallways, but not in direction to club. Instead, he was going to a part of the school that, as Legoshi knew, other people had already visited a lot on the last days.

Tem's memorial was something that people improvised. A picture of him, smiling proudly on his uniform, with flowers placed before it, alongside with foods and drinks. They were offerings, as it was tradition on their country to offer those things for the departed, to show appreciation and respect for them, and to demonstrate that they are still loved and cherished.

Legoshi stood before the memorial, set right in front of the door of the classroom where Tem lost his life, and he knelled down.

The hybrid placed the can he bought from the vending machine in the memorial. It was his own offering for his departed friend. His own way of showing him respect, and that he had not been forgotten.

It was a can of a drink called "Apple Score". An apple flavored drink that served as a sports drink for herbivores and carnivores alike. And Tem's favorite drink in the world, as the alpaca himself had told the carnivore on one of their talks.

"I really love it. It makes me agitated, and sometimes I cannot sleep after drinking too much of it, but I don't care. It is so sweet that I feel like I could drink it forever."

Legoshi wished that had been true. As he stood on his knees before the memorial, looking at the can of the same drink that he, so many times before, had seen on Tem's hands during Drama Club, and thinking of the alpaca once more.

Legoshi would forever be grateful at Tem for keeping his secret from everyone else. For accepting and supporting him all that time, even though he and Legoshi were both freshmen at Cherryton and hardly even knew each other.

And yet, Tem was so...

"You want to... touch my mane?" Legoshi asked to the Alpaca, who looked back at him.

"Oh, is that a rude thing to ask?" Tem asked, "Sorry, is just that... it looks so fluffy. I kind of want to touch it, to know what it feels like."

Legoshi was still looking at Tem with surprised.

This could have been the first time someone asked to touch his mane. He certainly never expected an herbivore to ask something like that.

Tem was, once more, apologizing for having asking something like that, and that was when Legoshi told him that it was not rude to ask something like that. It was just that the hybrid was not expecting for someone to ask to do it.

"But, if you had tried to touch it without permission, now that would have been rude." Legoshi said to him, and Tem said he would never do something like that.

"It's so soft!" Tem said in surprise, as he ran his hand over Legoshi's bushy mane. Running over the sides of Legoshi's head and on his neck. "So silky."

"Thanks... I use a special shampoo."

Legoshi held back from shivering as he felt that hand running over his mane. He may have neglected to tell Tem how intimate it was, among lions, for someone else to touch your mane. Especially if they were caressing, like Tem was unconsciously doing as he ran his hand over Legoshi's neck fluff.

And he could not say it right now, as he knew that it would make things really awkward between the two of them. That was why, when Tem asked if there was something wrong, his hand still in Legoshi's mane, the hybrid came up with an excuse.

"Just thinking if your wool is as soft as a sheep's..." Legoshi said. He would later wonder what possessed him to say something like that.

"Oh, sheep wish that they had wool this soft." Tem said with a smile. "Alpaca wool is special. Here, you can feel it." Tem opened the buttons of his shirt as he said that, pulling it open to reveal his chest. "Here, touch it."

Legoshi felt a little taken aback, and asked Tem if it was okay for him to touch his wool.

"Of course it is." Tem said to him. "It is only fair, right? You let me touch your mane."

Yeah, he indeed did.

Slowly, Legoshi approached his hand, much bigger than Tem's and with claws, to the alpaca's chest. As he did, he paid attention to the herbivore's reaction, and he didn't really saw any fear on Tem's eyes.

He didn't even flinched when Legoshi landed his hand on his chest, and felt on the material that covered the alpaca's skin.

"It's so... soft..."

Legoshi was looking down on his hand as he remembered this, flexing his fingers softly. He could still remember how soft Tem's wool felt under his touch.

Thinking back, that was quite the intimate moment the two of them shared on the empty changing room. If anyone had walked on them as they were doing that, it would have been more than a little awkward.

Legoshi felt that he would have been pretty embarrassed if anyone had caught them doing that. Maybe even to the point of forgetting that a person walking on them would also see his shirtless body and figure out his mixed species.

Legoshi was realizing that he and Tem were even closer than he had initially assumed, using that one interaction as a measurement. And that made his loss feel even more real to the hybrid.

Legoshi looked back at Tem's picture. He then closed his eyes, putting his hands together, and silently praying for the deceased herbivore.

Tem, I'm sorry for not coming sooner. The hybrid said inside his head, as if his wordless words would reach the alpaca wherever he was. I wished to come but... I think that I didn't wanted to accept you were gone... I was running from it, I think. Dad will give me a hard time if he hears about it. I'm sorry.

Legoshi sighed as he continued praying.

I gave Els your letter. Don't worry, I didn't let anyone see. She probably has read it by now. He thought. You can be in peace now...

After this, Legoshi's mind was in silence. Apparently, he ran to of things to say.

Dammit, he was awkward even when praying for someone who died. Maybe Jack was right, he really needed to work on being able to interact and talk with others.

Legoshi limited himself to a final thought. One that he had been needing to say for a while, even if just in a silent prayer.

Goodbye, Tem. I'll never forget you.

And he would not. That much he knew for sure. Legoshi would never forget what a good friend Tem had been to him.

And he would never forgive the animal who killed him, whoever it had been.

Legoshi's ears twitched as he heard footsteps coming on his way. He kept his eyes closed, however, as the steps came closer and closer, until they stopped right by his side.

Then he heard a sound by his side, as the animal who was in there kneeled right by his side, in front of Tem's memorial.

Legoshi's nose twitched. He was mostly lion, but he inherited the keen sense of smell of a wolf from his mother. In fact, some even said that his sense of smell was quite sensitive, even when compared to a pure-breed wolf.

He caught a whiff of the scent of the animal kneeling by his side, and he immediately recognized it from Drama Club.

Legoshi cracked one of his eyes open, casting a glance at his side and, indeed, it was Louis.

The red deer kneeled there, his head down and his eyes closed.

Did he... came here to pray to Tem as well? Legoshi caught himself wondering, as he continued to look at Louis, now opening both of his eyes.

He looked at the serene, but austere, expression on the deer's face as he had his head down just enough to pay his respects. His posture was still as straight and admirable as when he was on Drama Club, giving instructions and orders to the other members.

Legoshi could not help but think of how elegant and prideful the deer looked. He certainly still had the same presence that he always showed on club.

A presence that never failed on leaving Legoshi nearly mesmerized as he looked at him.

Legoshi just couldn't help it.

There was just this thing about Louis that made Legoshi look at him. This presence that he had that made everyone want to look his way. He certainly was animal completely different from Legoshi.

An animal born to be on the spotlight, and to whom everyone looked and admired.

Perhaps because he was a pure-breed...

"Hey." Louis said casually, his eyes still closed. Legoshi nearly jumped back and was able to bite his lip just in time to keep a curse from escaping. He immediately looked away, turning his muzzle back forward and down as it he as looking at Tem's memorial, although his eyes were looking to the wall by the side, as if trying to pretend he wasn't looking at Louis at all, even though he actually was.

"You are the wolf from the stagehands crew, right?" Louis asked to the carnivore. "Legoshi? Dom told me about you."

Legoshi's fur stood on end.

Louis-senpai knew who he was. He knew his name.

"Y-yes... it's me." Legoshi told the deer, and the herbivore was silent for a few seconds, before he opened his yes.

"Right." He said, and he got up. "Come with me."

That was not a request, but a command. Legoshi looked his way as he got up and turned around to leave.

"Now." Louis said to the carnivore as he started walking away. That was when Legoshi knew that this was not to discussion, and that he needed to come with Louis right now because he said so.

The hybrid actually had no choice but to do as it was request of him. He didn't even had time to consider refusing what the deer asked from him. He would probably not have been able to refuse. Not with the authoritative way that Louis ordered him around.

So, Legoshi followed Louis all the way to his office, nearly like an obedient puppy, as the hybrid was close behind Louis as they made their way back to the Drama Club, drawing more than a few looks as they were seen by everyone walking right into his office.

I mean, a big and imposing looking carnivore in a hoodie walking hunched over right behind an herbivore like Louis was bond to call some attention.

Legoshi swore he could feel their looks his way, as he pulled his hoodie tighter over his head out of pure reflex, something he developed from the years as he felt that everyone was watching him, and he was glad when he and Louis were inside and out of sight.

There was someone else in here. It was a goat, whom Legoshi had already seem as part of the acting team from a distance for a while. He never did knew his name, though.

Until today.

Louis introduced the goat to Legoshi as "Zoe", and said that he would be the one who would be taking over Tem's role as "Ollie the Water Spirit".

"Hi, Legoshi..." Zoe said to him, as he looked at the big carnivore wearing the hoodie. He asked Legoshi if he wasn't hot wearing that in the spring, and it he didn't wanted to take it off. Legoshi said he was fine, and kept his hoodie anyway.

What proceeded after this was a moment of awkward silence in between the three of them, which was suddenly broke when Louis started to speak something that Legoshi quickly recognized as a passage of the play. He knew it because he had seem while they rehearsed and played it for years since he first joined Drama Club back on the first year, literally on the day after he saw the play being performed for the first time.

Zoe, however, didn't seemed to have a clue on what Louis was saying, and this led to the deer admonishing him for not knowing the lines he was supposed to say, and then it evolved to Louis roughly grasping Zoe's mouth while demanding to know it he ate the script.

"You goats' only skill might be to eat paper, but that doesn't means you should eat every piece of paper that you get your hands on." Louis said to Zoe as he held his muzzle and looked him dead in the eyes. The goat was clearly intimidated by Louis, and so was Legoshi.

The deer was no even looking his way, and Legoshi felt the pressure that was coming from him.

The deer was actually reminding him of the few occasions in which the hybrid had actually seen his father get angry...

However, the tension was broke by the coming of someone who roughly opened the door.

It was Kai.

"Louis! What is this about you putting Zoe to replace Tem!? Are you serious!?"

Kai seemed like he was about to go into a tirade, but he stopped as soon as he saw that Louis was not alone in there.

After admonishing Kai for coming in without knocking and dismissing Zoe, who left quietly while passing by Kai, Louis focused his entire attention on the mongoose, who seemed to be pretty peeved about not being picked to play the role of Ollie now that Tem was no longer around. He claimed that he was a better choice, and that he was much more fit for the role than Zoe, since he was a carnivore.

"That's your justification?" Louis asked of the mongoose, who was surprise by the question. "Well, at this rate, it might be the only thing you can say on your favor."

Kai didn't had any time to process what Louis said, because then he was in for another shock as Louis told him that he would be moving Kai from the acting team to the stagehands, based on Kai's very poor performances on the last two plays he took part in.

Kai had been in shock at first, but then this shock was replace by anger. Pure, sheer, boiling carnivore anger. He bared his fangs as he glared at Louis as if he was trying to make him spontaneously burst into flames just by looking at him.

However, Kai would be doing far more than glaring. Legoshi knew that as he looked at Kai. At his expression, at the way his lips curled to show as much of his teeth as possible, and the way his fists were shaking with anger.

Those were lessons his father gave him. The telltale signs that a carnivore was about to strike.

This made Legoshi be on guard. So, when Kai did tried to strike, Legoshi was fast enough to react just in time.

Legoshi was sure to use his whole arm to block Kai's punch, and he was easily able to hold back the blow of the mongoose with a single limb. Honestly, he hardly even felt the blow at all, and he was having no problem holding against the smaller carnivore, while Kai was trying to force his way past him and reach Louis, who looked in surprise.

"Kai, Louis is the leading actor."

"So what!?" The mongoose growled as he continued trying to move past Legoshi, but it was like trying to break through a concrete wall just by pressing his body as hard as he could against it.

"We are stagehands, Kai." Legoshi said to him, "Our duty is to make sure everything runs smoothly, and this includes looking after the actors. Louis cannot get hurt before the play."

"I don't care!" Kai yelled back. "I just got demoted, so I don't give a crap about the stupid play! I'll just give this stupid rich brat a lesson!"

"Kai, we cannot hurt an herbivore!" Legoshi said, growing more desperate the more the mongoose tried to get through him and reach the deer. "This is not a correct thing to be done! And you might be expelled!"

"I. Don't. Care!" Kai said through clenched teeth, glaring at the bigger carnivore as he put even more strength into trying to push Legoshi back, but the bigger carnivore was hardly even bother by it. "Just let me have one go at him! How can you defend this arrogant bastard when all he does is look down on us all the time!? You should be helping me beat him up for being such a pain in the ass!"

"We can't harm an herbivore!" Legoshi said to Kai, trying to push him back, but the mongoose proved to be too much invest in reaching Louis, who only continued to look at the two as they continued with this, a baffled expression on his normally stoic face.

"You can't!" Kai said to Legoshi. "If you are not helping me beat this snob up, then you better get out of my way! Do you want me to beat you up to, you freak!?"

Legoshi flinched as he heard those words coming from Kai, his eyes widening.

"Please, let me go!"

"You want me to beat you up, weirdo? I will if you give me reason!"

"Yeah, beat him up!"

"Beat up the freak!"

"I want a go! Let me punch him too!"

"LET ME GO!"

Legoshi's fur stood on end beneath his clothes. His lips curled as he produced a loud snarl, his pupils contracting until they became thin vertical slits.

Kai, who had been wanting nothing more than to reach Louis, all of a sudden stopped. All of his anger blown off like a birthday candle as he saw the face the other animal was making and heard the sound coming from his throat. That was when he realized he had jut been trying to buy a battle he could not win.

"I-I-I'm sorry!" Kai said retreating several steps back, while Legoshi remained frozen in place, still snarling and shivering, seemingly in anger.

"I-I'm really sorry! I was out of line! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Kai apologized before making his way out of the room. He seemed nearly like he was running for his life, as his instincts told him it was better to flee while he still could. As soon as he slammed the door on his way out, Legoshi blinked.

It took him a few moments to realize what had happened, and what he had done.

Legoshi looked back at Louis, who was still looking at him in shock.

"I-I..." Legoshi said, looking at the deer for a few moments, before he lowered his head. "I'll see myself out."

Legoshi was on his way to the door, his head low and feeling very ashamed of himself, when something grabbed onto his jacket from behind, causing the carnivore to stop and look back.

Louis no longer looked shocked, and he only looked at the hybrid with some relaxed form of interest while he held the back of his jacket.

"I didn't said you could leave yet." Louis said to him, and Legoshi could only look back at him.

"O-oh..." Legoshi said, "Sorry..."

"Hey, you look pretty meek all of a sudden." Louis said to the carnivore. "What happened to that wolf who looked ready to tear someone to shreds?"

"I wasn't going to..." Legoshi said quickly, "I mean, I didn't... I..." Legoshi held his head down, avoiding looking Louis in the eyes. "I was just trying to make him stop."

"Is that so?" Louis asked, looking at the carnivore. "I heard that dogs had a natural inclination to defend herbivores, even to the point of fighting other carnivores to do so. Didn't assumed that wolves would be included on this. I always assumed you had wilder instincts."

"Still..." Louis said to the hybrid, "It was interesting to see you baring your fangs. Normally you don't even raise your voice. I kind of assumed that you were a pushover."

"I..." Legoshi said, "I just prefer to avoid conflict. My relatives told me I should only fight if I had no other choice."

"They sound smart." Louis said, "Did they also told you to bare your fangs and put on a show if anyone insulted you? Sounds like the kind of things wolves would teach their young."

Legoshi said nothing as he continued to look down, while the deer continued to look at him with an inquisitive look. It was nearly as if he was trying to figure the animal before him out.

This kind of look made Legoshi all the more uncomfortable...

"Oh, yeah." Louis said, breaking the silence. "I didn't told you why I needed you, did I?"

Indeed, Louis didn't. Legoshi looked up at him, as the deer started talking.

"Zoe cannot memorize his lines, as I'm sure you noticed. So, I'll be taking him to the auditorium tonight so we can practice his lines on the stage."

"Oh?" Legoshi said, looking at the deer.

"But, wait. The curfew is still in effect." Legoshi said to the deer. "The teachers say that the students are still not allowed to be out of their dorms past club hours. And the auditorium is closed after dark. It is locked."

"I have the key to the auditorium." Louis said to the carnivore. "One of the advantages of being the leading actor of Drama Club. I can open the auditorium and Zoe and I can go inside."

"But, do you have permission?" Legoshi asked Louis. It was a genuine question. After all, even if Louis was the school's future beastar, he was still just a student until the official announcement at the end of his third year when he graduated.

"Senpai, the teachers have been doing twice as many patrols on the hallways since Tem's death. If they catch you out of your dorm without permission then you could be in trouble. Zoe too." Legoshi said to the deer, who looked back at him.

"I know." The deer said, in a very relaxed manner. "That is where you come in."

"I'll be inside with Zoe to make sure the paper-eater memorizes his lines." Louis said to the carnivore. "You will be there too."

"Eh?" The hybrid said as he looked at the deer, who looked at him.

"You will be the lookout." The deer said casually. "You will keep watch like a good dog and you will let us know if there is any teacher coming our way."

He... he was joking, right? Legoshi hoped that he was just joking. However, his eyes were not smiling, even though there was a smile on his face. It seemed that Louis was being truly serious with this.

He really wanted Legoshi to join him in breaking the rules of the school and doing something that could land all of them in serious trouble.

"L-Louis..." Legoshi said, as he looked at the deer. "I-I don't think it is a good idea."

"Hmm?" Louis said, looking at the hybrid, who shrank a bit under the intense gaze of the herbivore.

"Louis, I-I don't think we should do it." Legoshi said to him, "I-if it goes wrong we could all be suspended... maybe even expelled! Louis, this really isn't a good idea, and you should rethink it."

"Is that so?" The deer said to the carnivore, "Afraid of getting into trouble for breaking the rules? Afraid they will call you a bad boy and ground you?"

Legoshi flinched as Louis talked to him like that, and he then felt a thug, as Louis grabbed the front of his hoodie and pulled, causing the carnivore to lean forward harder on his direction. They were now looking eye to eye.

"Do I need to offer you a treat to convince you to do it?" Louis asked the hybrid, an amused expression on his face. "I bed that if I offered my leg for you to eat you would gladly accept..."

"NO!" Legoshi blurted out. "I would never!"

The way he said it was so sudden that it caught Louis completely off guard. The deer's smile vanished, and now he looked at the bigger animal in shock. Legoshi, realizing that he had, once more, blurted out, was quickly apologizing.

"I would never do it." Legoshi said to Louis after he apologized. "I would never dream of. My father raised me better than that."

Indeed, he did.

Legoshi's dad was a loving man, but he was also strict when raising his son. There were certain things that he made sure that Legoshi would learn, and there were things that he would neve allow Legoshi to even entertain the idea of doing.

Like eating an herbivore.

This was a thing that he made sure to teach Legoshi never to do.

"Once you do it, there is no turning back." Were his words.

"I would never do it..." Legoshi said, more to himself than to Louis. Meanwhile, the deer continued to look at him.

"You are a weird wolf, aren't you?" Louis asked him, and Legoshi looked at him in surprise. Then he looked down.

"Anyways, I need you." Louis said to the hybrid. "You will be there with us." Louis said to the wolf. Legoshi once more tried to protest, trying to tell Louis it was a bad idea and that they could all be in trouble, but the deer was having none of it.

"You will be there." Louis said to the carnivore, his tone making it clear that this was what was going to happen. "I know you will because Zoe and I will be going anyway, and a canine like you has to protect herbivores. You won't leave two herbivores go out at night when the killer could still be on the loose, will you?"

Legoshi didn't had an answer for that. He wanted to say something back, but he found out that there was no good answer that Legoshi could say to the deer. Not any that would be able to make he give up on this plan, at least.

"I... I will be there..." Legoshi said, looking down in defeat. This made Louis smile.

"That's a good wolf." The deer said, "You can leave now. See you at eight. Don't make me wait, got it?"

With this, Louis dismissed the hybrid, who made his way out of the office and carried on with his day.

All the while, he was asking himself if he would really be doing this. If he really was going to put himself into a situation where he could get into serious trouble with the school and potentially end up expelled of the school only because Louis told him to do it.

Legoshi realized that he probably would.

His father made sure to make Legoshi become physically strong. However, even all of the training he made Legoshi have since he was seven was not able to make the hybrid be more assertive.

PerhapsLouis was right. Maybe Legoshi really was a pushover. He certainly behaved like one just now.

Well, he would just do this one favor for Louis. I mean, it was not that big of a deal, was? If his senpai asked him for a favor then he would do it for him. It was just one night. Just do it and then, hopefully, his life would go back to normal...