The sun hung low at Cherryton Academy as another day came to a close, students were mostly heading back to the dorms. Cherryton was for the most part an issue free school, mostly separated from the tensions between carnivores and herbivores that were for all intents and purposes hidden beyond it's grounds. Though just like the city and others, behavior rarely stays peaceful, even among those that are of the same nature.

"What was that?!" A mongoose snarled at a leopard, the two of them standing by near a secluded for the most part area of the school grounds.

"You heard me, you're about as intimidating as a mouse, how you mongooses are carnivores I'll never understand. You look more like prey than predator." The leopard said as he smeared at the mongoose, "Honestly I think it's insulting."

"That's rich, coming from an overgrown fleabag with spots. At least I don't have to worry about being confused for a cheetah." The mongoose shot back.

The leopard growled as he glared at the mongoose. "Tough talk pipsqueak, let's not forget who can devour who here."

"I'd like to see you try, I'd lay you out before you even had a chance." The mongoose retorted as he got as up in the leopard's face as possible, fingers flexed, readying his claws.

"Bring it half pint, I'm sure you'll make a nice little snack." The leopard commented before readying to throw a punch, only then stopped as his eyes went wide and he gulped, starting to shake as he saw the tall athletic figure of a white wolf approach behind the mongoose.

"Ha! Looks like your all talk, figured you …." The mongoose paused as he saw the larger shadow on the ground only to slowly turn around and gulp as he saw the arctic wolf who was staring at them with piercing violet eyes. "Sh-sh-shinoku…."

"There a problem here?" Shinoku asked, though from the tone of his voice and the way he looked at them it was clear he did know that they were about to fight.

"N-n-no, no p-problem…j-just a-a f-friendly...d-disagreement." The mongoose stammered as he shook in fear at the athletically built wolf.

"Y-y-yeah…friendly disagreement." The leopard echoed as he gulped.

"Didn't look or sound like it." Shin said as he narrowed his eyes, looking all the more intimidating "Look, I know you leopards and mongooses are the most even tempered animals, but I'm not going to hold that against you. We're all carnivores here, so what if one's smaller than the other, that doesn't give you the right to demean or bully the other. Am I clear?" he said as he made certain to put special emphasis on the question as he not quite glared at the Jaguar.

"I-I-I...y-yeah….yeah, you're right. We're all carnivores here, no need to start something." The jaguar acknowledged as he shook in fear, "W-won't happen again, honest….no hard feelings?" He asked the mongoose.

"N-none." The mongoose quickly agreed.

"Good." Shinoku said a bit more pleasantly as he slightly bent down to place a hand on both their shoulders, which terrified them more. "We're here to not just learn, but to get along better so that we can make a better future. So, try to do so, I'd hate to catch either of you in the same situation again."

"You won't, honest!" The mongoose quickly said.

"Yeah!" The leopard agreed.

Shinoku slightly smiled as he removed his hands. "Good, you're free to go then." with that he watched as the two Ran off, only to sigh slightly.

Cracking his neck a bit he made his way to the dorms, not really caring that he was given space by the other students. Of course his demeanor didn't really help things as he seemed to have a neutral unreadable look to him, and with his somewhat muscular physique didn't really help things either. Sure, he was quite the athlete at the school, being one of the best boxers, but he was more seen as a loner and one not to get too close to, what with being a wolf.

It didn't bother him though, it hadn't for a long time, he had gotten used to and accepted it. So, he stuck to what he was good at and just not really socializing save for when he broke up any fights or even bullying, letting his reputation and intimidating looks as a wolf do most of the work for him. Although he could not deny that there were times he could just be given the excuse to fight, a bit of his darker nature that he didn't try to deny, but didn't let rule over him. As he reached his dorm room he'd be greeted by his roommates who were his only friends that were rather close.

"Hey Shin, rest of your day go well?" asked an arctic fox said as he greeted shin with a smile. He was about half if Shin's height and had bright-ish teal eyes.

"Eh, yeah, same as usual I suppose." Shinoku replied as he shut the door behind him and moved to his bed, getting the container he kept his pet praying mantis in and looking at it. "Had to break up a fight before getting here, but even that isn't all that unusual." He mused as he took the mantis out and held it, lightly petting it with a finger.

"So typical day then, got it." a black jackal with yellow eyes commented with a smile, "Though what beats me, is that you don't seem to put any effort into fixing your reputation or actively pursue your dream" he stood a bit closer to Shin's height and was more on the lean side.

Shinoku just shrugged as he looked at his mantis, "I don't really see how I can, not that I haven't thought about trying, maybe one day."

"And yet yet look at who you are at this school sports wise and what you do almost on a daily basis." Surmised an African lion, who was about what would be expected of one in terms of looks, save for the fact he wore glasses and was slightly skinnier. "All it'd take is just you showing everyone your true nature and how good a guy you are, you'd win the school over in no time." His green eyes focused on Shinoku.

"Yeah but you know how Shin is Sebastian, keeps to himself and is often aloof at times unless around us." a Jaguar contributed. "I mean he's such a contradiction, a great athlete and keeper of peace but when it comes to socializing awkward as hell."

"I'm right here Vega..." Shinoku commented.

"But it's true, I mean I don't think you'd have any friends if it weren't for us." Jax said. "I mean really, it took us how to be your friends, most of freshman year?" He chuckled. "But seriously dude you got to open up more."

"Maybe you have a point Jax…" Shinoku somewhat admitted.

"I know I do." Jax replied as he crossed his arms, tail flickering to each side. "You just need to let the rest of the school know you like we do."

"You need to let yourself be more approachable, if you did you'd be one of, if not the most popular figures in the school, if not more so than Louis." The jackal said reassuringly.

"Hassan's right Shin, if you just got to believe that the other students will like you." Jax added as he smiled at Shinoku.

"And besides, you can't tell us you HAVEN'T thought about becoming the beastar with all the good you have done. No one sticks their neck out for other animals, herbivore or carnivore, like you have done unless they really wanted to see things change for the better, that's the very aspiration of the beastar." Sebastian said as he leaned against his bed.

"Okay...so maybe I have given thought to trying to be the beastar." Shinoku admitted, "But do you really think I could have that much of a chance?"

"Definitely!" Vega exclaimed, "You know you could count on our support, and if you just put in the same amount of effort you do with everything else you'd have this who school supporting you!"

Shinoku placed his hand in his maw, contemplating a few seconds. "OK, I'll at least think about trying..."

"Well you better not think for too long, you do and Louis will have no one to challenge him for the title and get it without a fight." Jax said as he nudged Shinoku in the shoulder, "It's not exactly an opportunity you get to have more than once."

"I know." Shinoku admitted.

With that, not much else was said as the evening turned to night and night turned into morning as the sun slowly rose in the sky. As the first beams of light started to barely slip through the window Shinoku woke like clockwork, stretching before getting up and started to do his daily morning exercises before the other's got up. It was a typical sort of exercises, first he'd get good and stretched before getting on the floor and doing some push ups, alternating between two and one handed and evem with just his finger and brief pushing his hands off the ground. Then, he'd do some sit ups and squats before some jumping jacks.

He made sure to stay quiet as to not wake the others, something he had gotten quite good at doing. As he neared the end of his morning routine his roommates got up and each got ready for the day ahead. After they had all gotten ready and said there farewells till they saw each other at lunch, Vega and Shin went to their shared class.

As they got to the class Shin went and took his usual seat that was at the very back of the class, near the door, eyes quickly glancing about after he got set for the class, obviously looking to see if there was someone in particular at the class. His eyes soon settling on a well filled out and figured Siberian tigress with golden yellow eyes. Anastasia, though he had heard her say she'd prefer to be called Anya.

Shinoku had noticed her near the mid part of his freshman year and he had found her...intriguing to say the least. It wasn't just that she was beautiful, though that could go without saying with the curves she had. There was just something about her he liked, something that caused him to often glance at her when he could.

Shinoku didn't do it a lot, he wasn't about to look like a creep, nor did he want to be one. But each glance of her was something that caused a smile to form on his face and his ears to slightly perk. And, at times, he'd swear she glanced at him too, especially when he'd go to watch the drama club rehearse.

That was where he had first seen her, how graceful she was and something just clicked. It wasn't that he didn't like female wolves, far from it, it was just he had always had a kind of preference for specific girls. Mostly those who had spots or stripes, but that was not the top priority. This was something that his friends knew and gave him some playful teasing about. Even the fact he had often glanced at Anya was something they knew.

It really didn't hit him that he and the Siberian tigress had shared a number of classes until he had happened to glance about one day after he saw her and had noticed her in not just this class, but some of his others as well. One thing was certain though, she always looked tired during the class, her head laid on folded arms as her tail ever so slightly swayed as she seemed to sleep through the class. This always seemed odd to Shin because no matter how often she seemed to do this she always seemed to stay in good standing with the class.

Shinoku didn't think too much about it though, figuring she just crammed a fair bit after. She did seem to work pretty hard from what he had observed in the drama club rehearsals he had watched. So he just assumed she did a few other things on top of said cramming that left her tired and warn out from lack of sleep. Whatever it was though wasn't really had to concern himself with, after all, he had never spoken to her, only glanced. As the teacher began the day's lesson he made sure to pay attention to every word, taking down rather meticulous notes as always.

If it was one thing he prided himself on it was doing well in everything he applied himself to. He wasn't full As, but he did well enough that his teachers were quite impressed and liked him a fair bit. It was part of the reason why Shinoku was allowed to sit where he did, away from the rest of the class and to himself. The arctic wolf didn't mind sitting where he did, sure he could sit where it was expected, heck he could even have asked to sit next to hid friend without question. But he didn't mind the solitude, it was so he had long since gotten used to and to a degree enjoyed, allowing him to stay focused and do his best.

As class came to a close he grabbed his things and started heading out the door, only to be stopped as he heard Vega come behind him. "Another day, another class of you ogling your crush." The jaguar teased with a big shit eating grin on his lips, much to Shin's flustered dismay.

"Sh-shut up, she might hear!" Shinoku said in a hushed voice as his ears went straight up and he rather quickly got them both out of the classroom, "And I wasn't ogling...just…..getting a brief glance every now and then. Ogling suggests something….unpleasant."

Vega only laughed as he shook his head. "Really Shin, you make it way too easy. How is it you can be so intimidating and aloof but yet when it comes to a cute girl you act like a newborn pup who just discovered what a crush is. But, for all feline kind, I do thank you for seeing that our females are the more attractive." Vega grinned.

"Smart ass." was Shinoku's only response as he walked.

"Yeah, but I'm a lovable smart ass. But at least you can say it's not as bad as when the rest of us found out you had a crush on Anya." he said as he put his hands behind his head, "Oh boy did we have fun with that, we thought you'd either eventually find a female wolf or...stay a virgin forever. Which, still is a possibility with how you haven't even talked to her at all. Hell, you haven't even tried to get closer to her to try to talk to her"

Shinoku merely rolled hid eyes at the first bit. "Oh how could I forget the first time you guys found out, joking if I was a feline in a canine body and stuff like that."

"All in good fun and nothing meant." Vega said with a dismissive hand wave. "we were just surprised that you had a type."

Shinoku blushed ever so faintly. "Yeah...I still can't quite get it, it's just..."

"Something about the stripes and patterns that seem appealing." Vega finished. "Yeah, I can get it." Vega added as placed a hand on Shinoku's shoulder.

"But it's not just that…" Shinoku mused. "Maybe it's because-"

"Because you just find that felines in general, hyenas, or hell even Zebras just have this thing to them, a sort of quality of how they carry themselves and such. Yeah, we all been through this talk already." Vega said, not really wanting to go over the whole discussion about Shinoku's attraction to felines.

"Sorry…" Shinoku apologized. "I'm just still trying to understand it you know? Still, there's just something...different, special, about Anya, something I just can't quite place."

Vega waved him off dismissively. "Don't sweat it Shin, we've all been there at one point or another, trying to figure out just who and what we are looking for in a girl. Trust me, what your feeling, sounds like you're really into her."

"I mean, it does...but what if she's already seeing someone?" The arctic wolf asked. "What if she's just not interested in me or wants to stick to other tigers?"

"Well you're never going to know until you talk to her. Though from the way you're acting you seem more willing to take on a train in a one on one fight than talk to her. You need to apply some of that confidence you display in your sport stuff and keeping others from tearing each other limb from limb to your love life." Vega advised.

Shinoku just shrugged. "I've just...never really felt this way before….so nervous and anxious."

"Look, I'm going to be brutally honest with you. If you let fear and nerves get the best of you when it comes to girls you're never going to get a girlfriend, and odds are some other guy, feline or no, is going to come around and snatch her up."

"I hear what you're saying Vega, it's just...hard for me to get the courage to." Shinoku admitted as his ears flattened slightly.

"Well then this is something we're all going to have to work on then." Vega stated. "We will ALL talk about this at lunch."

Shinoku's ears flattened more. "Do we really need to?"

"Yes." Vega said simply. "It's not just about you getting more confidence around girls, but about you being able to find the one. And if she's it, you'll kick yourself the rest of your life thinking about what could have been. Besides, me and the rest of the guys can't let you be that one weird friend who just stays single out of fear of rejection, that'd just be weird, sad, and kinda creepy." he smirked.

"Ha ha." Shinoku said in a very dry sarcastic manner, "Fine...but you guys better not come up with some sort of outlandish plan….well, you and Jax at least."

"We won't...honest!" The jaguar assured.

Shin narrowed his eyes as he looked at Vega, "You promise? I don't want to be tricked into doing something like that time you said we had permission to go off school grounds to see a movie."

"It was one time, and you wanted to see it as badly as the rest of us did. But yes, this time I really mean it and promise, I'll even make sure Jax agrees too." Vega defended himself.

"Fine." Shin relented, "But you definitely promise."

"Yes!" Vega insisted. "No tricks or schemes."

"Good." Shin said before waving waving farewell to Vega as they eventually went their separate ways.

The next class went about much the same, Shinoku sitting in the back by himself and like his last class glancing over at the Siberian tigress every now and then. Shinoku was still surprised by the fact that they seemed to have almost the same schedule, but wasn't about to complain as it made the classes all the more enjoyable to be in and sit through. Not that he was ever bored by the classes, well, maybe a slight bit, but they were important and interesting enough that he didn't have too much of a problem staying focused.

Once more time seemed to go relatively quickly as the class came to an end and he got his stuff and left. As it came time for lunch Shinoku could hear his stomach growl lightly as he headed towards the cafeteria, hoping that it was something good like a nice bean steak. To which he was delighted that it was. Sure it wasn't anything like the real thing, but it was nice and tasty and he enjoyed it all the same.

"Hey shin, over here!" Hassan called from near the door with the others.

Shinoku nodded as he walked over to them, "We're not going to eat in the cafeteria today?" He asked.

"No, with what we have to talk about I figured you'd like the privacy so we're going to eat outside." Hassan replied.

"Shinoku arched a brow as he looked at his friends, "Oookaay…." he then glanced at Vega and Jax.

"Hey, no tricks." Jax said rather quickly.

"Yeah, I did promise you and I keep my promises….unless it'd for a good reason." Vega grinned playfully, "But this is not one of those times." He added as Shinoku narrowed his eyes.

"Alright, where we going then?" Shinoku asked.

"Hmmm...the pool should be a good place, nice and secluded during lunch." Hassan suggested.

"Yes, the pool will be perfect." Sebastian said in agreement.

Hassan nodded. "Then the pool it is."

They then made their way to the pool, which during this time was empty and with no one around. Which, for Shinoku's case, might have been the best thing that he could have hoped for with what he was about to hear. "WHAT?!" Shinoku exclaimed in a panic, his eyes wide, ears and tail straight up as he looked at his friends, completely flustered by what he had just been told.

"You heard me." Sebastian said as he looked at him, "We are giving you an ultimatum, either you tell her how you feel or one of us will." he said, the others nodding sagely as Shinoku continued to panic.

"B-b-but." Shinoku stammered.

"No buts Shinoku, this is for your own good. One way or another she's going to learn how you feel about her and you're going to man up and talk to her. It's not that we're trying to hurt you, it's simply that we care for you. It's exactly like what Vega told you, if you don't act then you're going to lose her and live with regret." Sebastian explained.

"Exactly, it took you long enough as it is to be friends with us, and considering that it took as long as it did with you being our roommate and seeing you EVERY day. We figured you would need a push to talk to her or you never would." Hassan further explained as he took a bite of his food, one eye focused on Shinoku.

"That's...that's completely unfair!" Shinoku protested. "I need to do this at my own pace that I'm comfortable with!" Shinoku argued as he panicked.

"No, it's not." Sebastian countered. "You are just dragging your feet and worrying way too much if she'll like you or reject you. You've even said yourself that you thought she has glanced at you as well."

"Yes...but….I could have been imagining it." Shinoku replied.

"But what if you weren't." Hassan countered. "What if she was glancing at you. If she is then that means she has some interest in you as well. But you'll never know if you don't approach and talk to her. I mean you're on the freaking boxing team for crying out loud Shin. I've seen you take much rougher blows than a rejection. Plus she's probably really nice and let you down real easy if she's not interested. Not that she wouldn't be, you're a guy that girls would love to be with if you just let yourself be more confident in that respect."

"Do I at least get a say in the time frame?" Shinoku asked.

"That's only only fair I suppose. You can choose either within the coming twenty four or forty eight hours." Sebastian offered.

"That's not much of a choice!" Shinoku argued.

"Maybe not, but we don't know when someone else who might be interested in her might get up the courage to ask her out and her agree. This is something of vital importance! A matter of the heart and love, we can't sit idle as the window of opportunity to find your one true love pass by! What kind of friends would we be if we didn't push you forward, to help you in times like this!"Sebastian exclaimed passionately as he rested a closed fist over his heart.

"Easy there Sebastian, we all want Shin to succeed, but this is not like he's going into war." s Hassan said with a slight chuckle. "We're his wing men true, but there's no need to get too zealous. I swear you lions take things way too seriously sometimes." He added as he shook his head with a smirk.

"I don't know, I found it rather inspirational." Jax commented. "Also you are kind of wrong on that end Hassan, love can be war, especially if you have to compete with another guy."

"We're getting off track here." Sebastian commented before looking at Shinoku. "So what will it be Shin, twenty four or fourty eight hours?"

"Can I have a week?" Shinoku asked.

"No." Sebastian answered.

"How about six days?" Shinoku countered.

"Nope." Sebastian replied.

"Five? I got to have time to at least think of what to say!" Shinoku argued.

Sebastian sighed. "Alright fine, seventy two hours, three days."

"Starting tomorrow?" Shinoku inquired.

"Starting after lunch." Sebastian stated.

"You guys are bastards." Shinoku pouted.

"Complain all you want Shin but you know as well as I that if it were any one of us and not you, you'd be in on the same plan." Sebastian said as he crossed his arms.

"….I hate it that you're right." Shinoku muttered.

Sebastian grinned. "Score one for lions for getting a wolf to admit that one was right."

Shinoku rolled his eyes, "Don't push your luck Sebastian, I could still kick your ass."

Sebastian chuckled. "You could...but you won't, because we're friends."

"I'm actually starting to rethink that." Shinoku murmured, only for the others to laugh.

"Oh don't get moody, this is for your own good and benefit Shin, you'll see. Come the next few days you might just have your first girlfriend and finally start being way more cheery to the point where people will think you're a nice guy to talk to." Hassan said as he moved over to Shinoku, patting him on the shoulder.

"Yeah, look on the bright side, you're about to have your first girlfriend." Jax added.

Shinoku sighed. "Fine, I guess I should start thinking of what I should say to her..."

"Might help, just don't over think it." Hassan advised. "If you over think it you'll just get in your own head and won't think of anything at all. Plus, if she already does like you or is just a nice girl then you really have nothing to fear, ESPECIALLY if she does like you. So stay calm and just be yourself, because that is what she likely might like about you."

Shinoku smiled slightly. "Thanks."

"Anytime." Hassan replied. "Going to do your usual thing of spying on Anya later?" Hassan snickered.

Shinoku shoved Hassan lightly as he blushed. "Shut up."

Hassan laughed along with the others, "Alright, no more teasing...for now. And hey, on the bright side, if she does like you and say yes….she might give you advise on how to get into the drama club. Considering how you've expressed so much interest in joining it on multiple occasions. Why no one has approached you to yet is beyond me."

"Maybe, but I wouldn't want to date her just for that." Shinoku commented.

"I know, I'm just saying she might help when she learns you have interest." Hassan stated. "Then again, probably everyone in the club has figured you have an interest. Either that, or they just think you have nothing better to do and are just bored. Though considering where you watch from...they probably haven't even noticed you….except for her of course."

"Maybe…" Shinoku mused. "I try not to make myself noticeable so they aren't distracted or anything."

"Just like you do with everything else except when you're Boxing or protecting someone." Hassan smirked playfully.

"Now I feel attacked." Shinoku muttered as his expression went flat.

"Just telling the truth." Hassan chuckled. "But yeah, let's finish so you can head on."

"Yeah." Shinoku replied before going back to eating. After he had finished he went to return the tray before heading to his next class. "Seventy two hours..." Shinoku thought to himself. "I mean that's not a lot of time, what do I even say? Hi, I'm Shinoku, we share classes and I've been glancing at you every so often? Yeah, that doesn't sound creepy in the slightest." The arctic wolf sighed as he grabbed the side of his head, massaging his temples among other things as he thought. "She probably already know my name too...so that would make me sound not only like a creep but stupid as well. Maybe simpler."

Shinoku continued to contemplate as he got to his next class. "Hi, I was wondering if you'd like to talk foe a minute if you could...better…maybe...Hi I'm Shinoku, you might already know my name since we share a lot of the same classes, but I was wondering if you had a minute to talk. Yeah, that sounds better…but it might could be even more so."

The arctic wolf's thoughts on the matter soon stopped as the teacher began the lesson though his mind still wondered a bit even as he glimpsed at Anya. His friends had really put him to the fire it seemed, not that he was mad at them about it or anything. If anything, Shinoku found it funny that despite the short time they had known each other they had all became as close as could be. Which, at least when it came to Jax and Hassan, was understandable given the nature of canines. Not that it was odd when it came to Vega or Sebastian, both were great animals in their own right, it was just always a bit funny that they were part of the first four animals who were the first to be so willingly friendly and genuinely so given the rivalry between canines and felines.

Before Shinoku knew it time had passed by and the school day was over and it was nearing time for the after school clubs, the arctic wolf making his way to the gym to attend boxing class with plans of leaving early like he often did to watch drama club. Shinoku was grateful that his coach that was in charge of boxing club allowed him to do so, mostly because Shinoku not only put in the work to be as good as he was, but had already had a lot of practice in boxing. So it was just a simple thing of timing things out just right to where he could catch what he could of drama club during their practices before they wrapped up. Well, catch what he could of them...and Anya,

"Ah Shin, good to see you." An adult ocelot that was clearly the coach greeted him. He looked to be in his late thirties, maybe early forties, but either way he looked fit for his age and suitable rough and gruff. Still he was rather friendly despite his appearance, well, as friendly as an ocelot who may or may not have been through his own boxing experience among other things could be. "Ready to put the equipment through it's paces?"

"You know it old man." Shinoku said, a smirk on his face.

The ocelot's face turned deathly stern as he eyed Shin, "That's coach Dante to you." He glared at shin a moment before laughing as his features soften, "Good! Go get ready and I'll set up the equipment, but I will say that you seem to not really need the practice. Well, at least with dummies and what not, especially if you're keeping up with your exercises."

"You offering to spar with me?" Shinoku asked with a sly smirk.

Dante only returned it. "Don't tempt me, though I doubt the school heads would approve of me knockin you flat on your ass."

"You're assuming that you'd win." Shinoku shot back.

"Maybe, but I still have more experience than you." Dante remarked. "Now, go get changed."

"Right." Shinoku said as he went to the locker room and into his gym uniform. He started to go through the paces as he did many a time before, practicing his jabs and such on the punching bag as he went through the motions, bobbing and weaving against imagined fists. It was something to see, his face determined and focused as he looked like he was actually fighting an opponent for a school championship. His punches were powerful too, causing the bag to look as though it to go off of it's supports.

"Someone's in a bit of a mood today." Dante commented as he crossed his arms.

"I wouldn't say mood...more nervous." Shinoku replied as he kept at it.

"Nervous, what in the hell about?" Dante asked with an arched brow.

"Well, my friends are giving me three days to talk to a girl before they do for me." Shinoku admitted before stopping with his punching and giving the bag a few kicks.

"I see, and this girl got you that nervous?" Dante asked. "I'm surprised, but then again from what I've heard from your teachers about you not really socializing I'm not that surprised. The fact you managed to have the friends you do is a good thing, being a loner doesn't quite someone with the aspirations and beliefs you have. I think them giving you this time frame is a good thing, if you're really interested in her. Has she shown any interest in you?"

"Yes...maybe…I'm not sure." Shinoku replied.

"Not sure?" Dante scoffed. "I've seen you go into each match and event you participate in with utter assurance of the outcome, why the hell is this the one thing you're not sure of?"

"I don't know….I mean I think she is…" Shinoku replied. "She might have glanced at me every so often….maybe about as much as I have her."

Dante sighed as he placed hand on his face. "Shin, for all your talent, and I do mean talent as I can see you easily making a career out of boxing or even MMA from what I've seen, you sure can easily doubt yourself when it comes to social things. Frankly, it's something unbecoming of you. If you think she's into you then talk to her. It's not like your facing an opponent who can break your fucking arms in two. Who is she by the way?"

"A girl...a tigress….in a number of my classes, she's in the Drama club." Shinoku explained.

Dante blinked before letting out a laugh. "Well I'll be a son of a bitch, I figured it was another wolf. But I'm not going to judge, you like who you like. I know when I was your age I had this thing for a lioness, but that's not important. What is important is that you grow a pair and talk to her, your friends are doing you a favor by giving you that time frame. Though I will ask you this, I know you have a fascination with the drama club, can't really blame you as it's a rather good fit for someone who believes in coexistence like you. If she offers to see about convincing them to give you a shot, will you take it?"

Shinoku sighed a bit. "Yeah...I think I would."

the ocelot smiled, "Well if you do, and they offer you a position in the club, you better not let it interfere with your other stuff here."

"You know I won't, I enjoy this too much." Shinoku replied with a slight smile.

Dante smiled back. "I know you do, I could tell this was what you needed the moment I spotted you and what I saw behind those eyes. A pride for what you were, a willingness to use that strength that needed to be channeled for something more than just helping others who were being bullied or threatened and something….else."

"And I'm grateful for that opportunity." Shinoku said gratefully/

Dante nodded. "I know you are kid, but don't forget, I have seen that thing you keep inside, and truthfully, the fact that you seem to not let it consume you when it leaks out….both amazes and scares me."

"I've….had help with that for a long time, mostly my parents." Shinoku replied.

"Well, far from me to question what seems to have worked." Dante shrugged. "Now, enough talk, get back to it."

"Right, I can leave a bit early as usual right?" Shinoku asked as he went back to practicing his boxing moves.

"Yeah, but now I'm wondering if all these times you've been leaving early to watch the tail end of drama club was solely for that, or to watch her." Dante mused with a slight hint of a smirk.

"...Would you be mad if I said both?" Shinoku asked.

"Not really, I've done similar shit when I was your age." Dante remarked. "Just keep up the good work and I won't have an issue with what you do."

"Thanks old man." Shinoku smiled.

"This old man can still kick your ass you know." Dante grinned.

The two chuckled before Shinoku went back to focus more on his practice and exercises, his mind focusing more on the task at hand thanks to the talk with Dante. He owed a lot to the coach, Dante having been the one to scout him out for not just Cherryton, but the club as well. Not only that, but the ocelot also was willing to work with and give leeway here and there, being willing to listen and talk, which had surprised Shinoku at first given Dante's gruff and no nonsense attitude. But it would always be something Shinoku appreciated.

It wasn't long until Shinoku, as he had done for a while, stopped and headed to change back into his regular school uniform, having gotten down the exact timing of when he needed to leave to catch just enough of the drama club practicing. As he headed to leave the gym he felt the eyes of Roger, a kangaroo in the club and the only other one in it as skilled as he was, glaring at him. Shinoku payed him no mind though as he saw the kangaroo as a dick and rather arrogant, the two of them often trying to outdo each other as Roger delighted in trying to press his buttons, something that Shinoku was not proud to admit worked from time to time. The two of them had what most would see as a fierce rivalry, although Shinoku more viewed it as Roger just being an asshole. Regardless, Shinoku just ignored him as he walked out and started making his way to watch the drama club.

Shinoku had always had a fascination with the club ever since he saw them do the Adler play when he was a freshman. He found the whole performing in a group that represented harmony among both predator and prey a perfect example of what the world could be like and he knew he wanted to be a part of that. Not just because of what they represented, but because he had always had a fascination with theatrics and performing, though he'd never really admit it. At least, he hadn't until he became friends with Vega, Sebastian, Hassan, and Jax. They were the only ones that really knew.

Shinoku made sure he was scarce and not easily seen as he then watched the club go through whatever was left of their practice. He watched as the actors go through their motions, motions he had seen enough times to memorize rather thoroughly, enough to where he could go through the motions as well somewhat without even thinking about it. Then came the dancers and….Anya.

Shinoku wasn't much for dancing, he could, he just never really had an excuse to. But when he saw the dancers, saw Anya, he was rather captivated by their...no, her movements. It wasn't anything against the other dancers, they were all great, ot was just something about her that made it all the more irresistible to watch.

Anya's movements were so fluid, so graceful, it was like watching a work of art come to life, well, in his opinion at the very least. He smiled as he watched, his tail starting to wag unbeknownst to him. But as he watched it happened again, those golden yellow eyes of hers seemed to move towards his direction. Shinoku blushed as ge adverted his watching gaze briefly and even made himself a bit more scarce.

He then looked back and he could swear there was a smile on her lips, a faint one, maybe even a slight blush? Was she...no…..couldn't be, it was probably just his imagination that she faintly blushed. But then, he'd notice again, her eyes would seem to move in his direction.

Maybe, maybe his friends were right...maybe she was interested in him. The thought itself as well as approaching her made his heart quicken it's rhythm and his tail wag a bit faster, but he was quick to get himself under control. Now was not the time, especially since he had no idea what to say to her. Plus, he had to get out of their before anyone else in the club potentially saw him or came out and saw him, that would be an awkward thing to have to explain/.

Shinoku quickly left, making his way back to the male carnivore dorm. Unlike the other day there was thankfully nothing he needed to intervene in, all seemed rather peaceful like it should be at the school. When he got back to his room he greeted his friends and the rest of the evening was spent with a mixture of talk, Shin practicing his violin for a bit, though he already was good at it, and a game of chess before they turned in for the night.

Come the next day Shin went through the motions as he did every morning with his exercises before getting ready to go get breakfast. "Two days come lunch….maybe I should try today.." he thought to himself as he looked in the bathroom mirror before sighing, "Might as well...but I need to find the right time..." he further thought.

After he had finished getting ready he waved goodbye to the rest of his friends before he and Vega headed off to their class. As like all the other days he glanced at Anya who, just like every other time, seemed to sleep. "Maybe later in the day..." he thought before turning his full attention back to the lesson, deciding approaching her in the morning might not be the best idea. When lunch rolled around he went to go sit with his friends like always.

"So Shin, clocks ticking, you got a plan yet?" Hassan asked as he looked at Shin.

"Kind of? Just waiting for the right moment." Shinoku replied as he seemed to eat a bit quicker than normal.

"That so? Well you better hurry up and go through with it before we do something for you." Vega commented.

"I'm well aware, no need to remind me." Shinoku remarked.

"Just saying." Vega said.

Shinoku just scoffed before he finished his lunch a few minutes later. "I'm going to walk around for a bit, get the details ironed out."

"Alright, see you later Shin, and try not to stress yourself out." Sebastian said as he watched Shinoku get up.

"Will do, later." Shinoku replied before leaving the cafeteria, deciding to walk around the school grounds a bit to think of a good time to approach Anya.

Although that was something Shinoku would soon not have to worry about as he soon spied her talking to what looked to be a much older doberman. He was clearly not a student, though something didn't feel right. He had a very bad feeling, an instinctual gut reaction that the doberman who loomed over her was bad news. An assumption supported by the fact that her fur seemed to be standing on end combined with the fact she was doing everything she could not to look directly at him til he had placed his hand on her face to make her do so. This caused him to quickly, and deftly, get closer and behind something so he could hear what was going on without being seen...yet.

"Oh c'mon darling~, let me take you away from here, forget this place and come live with me~." The Doberman said as he gave her a wide toothy grin, only for her to try and push away from him. The doberman simply laughed at her attempts as Ana hissed and growled slightly.

"Let me go now or else you mutt!" Anya said in a demanding tone before finally trying to defend herself and scratch him, hitting his cheek and making him bleed a bit.

The doberman laughed at what she had done, seemingly unfazed by the fact she had just scratched him and drew blood, grabbing her by her neck. He brought her closer and watching her squirm, from the looks of it, it had seem he was getting ready to return the favor as he drew his fist back. This was all Shin needed, he was not about to what this..this mongrel hurt her. Without a second thought he dashed towards them without even thinking and grabbed the doberman's hand and swiftly restraining it behind his back as he gazed fiercely at the man.

"This is a school, not some back alley." Shinoku snarled in a fierce and demanding tone. "You heard her, let her go. Or do you want me to make you regret forcing yourself on a student? Because believe me, I'm really tempted to beat the shit out of scum like you." He further demanded, each word of his threat of hoping to fight the doberman prefaced by an ever tightening grip.