Legosi and friends gawked at the heap of fur that was left over after they had trimmed. It was a month after the performance, and the summer heat had begun to set in, and their coats, like many others, were far too thick. Every furred mammal had to be trimmed every now and then, with every species having its own periodic schedule, but Legosi's pack members were similar enough that they could all be trimmed together. The others were talking about how much everyone's cut would be. Legosi and Collot had the most. Jack, Miguno, and Durham were right behind them, and of course, Voss had the least.

There was no practice during the month-long break between the play and the Meteor Festival. There was always a chance that they would get invited, the Cherryton Academy was one of the most prestigious schools in the city after all.

Attendance would be a cakewalk for the Actors and Dancers. There was only one performance for them, a simple and easy gig that didn't exactly need much practice or expertise. The Art Department, on the other hand, was to craft a massive paper mache statue of a dinosaur. It was always one of the most time-consuming tasks that were feared by the entire Art Department, but it did mean that they could leave the school campus without outing permits, which definitely excited some of the students.

When Legosi arrived at the Drama Club, he kissed Juno before he sat down next to his fellow Stage Hands. It was a bit of a ritual between them. The relationship between the two wolves had finally cemented itself over the last month. The entire club had become aware of it and was accepting of it as well.

Fudge and Kibi were eagerly anticipating what Sanu would say. The pelican was the club president and was the one who coordinated events. Fudge bet a thousand yen that they'd be invited to the Meteor Festival this year. Kibi was convinced otherwise, given that their last time attending the festival didn't exactly go too well... They fell silent as Sanu walked in front to address the group.

"Like last year, we have been invited to the Meteor Festival. We, of course, plan to accept." The Art Department sighed as the rest of the group cheered. Kibi reluctantly stuck his hand in his pocket, giving a thousand yen to the happy red panda.

"Told you so, didn't I?" He teased, putting the money into his pocket. "Oh, shut up! Let's just head to the storage room." Kibi had stood up and with the other Art Department members headed towards the large storage room at the back of the building.

The storage room was cluttered and filled with countless tools and materials, all of which were caked in dust. There were large background Cutouts, many different kinds of fabrics in a multitude of colors, and most notably, the dinosaur statues of years prior.

"We obviously can't use the same statues as last year," Dom said, the peafowl rummaging through the cans and tubes of paint they had. Legosi looked up at the dinosaur. Was this what Voss felt like? The sheer size of the statue was quite intimidating. It looked as though any second it could fall over and crush everyone. Even if it was only a simple scaffold-like structure under layers of painted paper.

"What do you think, Legosi?"

"What do I think about what now?" replied the wolf, quickly turning around. Dom pointed at the paint cans sitting in a crate.

"Which colors do you think we should use? I wanted to spice it up a bit more this year with different colors. Maybe a bit more variety too."

The large canine crouched down, scanning through the rows of paint cans. "Mmmmh... how about we use some orange?" He motioned towards the red and yellow cans. "Maybe throw in some greens as well..."

The peafowl scratched under his beak. "That should work. Thanks for your input."

"Whenever you need me." Legosi stood back up, looking at the materials needed for the statue.

Their little Art Department group walked back towards the dormitories. Today, they had collected all the materials needed and bunched them up together. Tomorrow, they would go and bring them to the festival grounds.

As he listened to Fudge teasing Kibi about how he would use the money to buy his own Ant shakes, Legosi thought of Juno. Hadn't he told her he would get dinner with her today?

"Oh, dammit. I'll see you later, I had plans that I forgot all about!" The others waved goodbye, as he started to run off towards the female dormitories.

Legosi made his way up to the carnivore level of the dorms. The dorms were gender and species-specific. The entry of the opposite gender's dorm was strictly prohibited, in order to keep the amount of fooling around to a minimum. Of course, everyone found their own way around this, prohibited or not. He caught sight of a few other male students making their way to their girlfriends, not unlike him. They casually greeted and kept on walking.

On the way up, he heard the sounds of what seemed to be breaking glass. The wolf walked towards it, curious as to what was going on. He smelled Haru... and three others. When he reached the source of the chaos, he saw Haru staring down three other small herbivores. She was turned towards them and away from him. When the largest of the three, another rabbit, noticed the large grey wolf, he could almost feel her heart stop, their flight instincts kicking in just as Haru ended her tirade.

There was a broken vase on the floor. They must have tripped her up, making her drop the vase in the process.

"Are you ok?" He spoke softly. Haru tensed up, slowly turning around. As she saw who it was, she breathed out.

"Oh... It's you... I'm fine." She looked beaten down, her uniform was dirty.

"They sure are mean, aren't they?" He sympathized with her. The rumors must have spread far if they had even reached Kibi.

"Yeah..." she looked away, ashamed. "Sorry if you heard all that..."

"Rumors are a terrible thing..." Legosi crouched down to her. She was still looking away, shame surrounding her.

"Rumors... yeah..."

"Here, let me help y-" He had tried to grab a flower out of the puddle of water and porcelain shards, but she had already grabbed them herself.

"I can manage it on my own." She sounded a bit hurt, but she was trying her hardest to push the feeling away.

"Well, if you need help, you can always ask me. I'm Legosi, from the Drama Club," He held out his hand. Her much smaller hand, shaking his finger. "Legosi, the help is appreciated, but I can handle it. I don't need you." She stood up straight now. She couldn't help herself but shiver slightly when he stood back up.

"Well, be careful... have a good evening" The wolf left her standing in the hall.

"Legosi, huh?" His actions certainly seemed genuine to her, but still...

Legosi finally reached Juno, who stood in her room, awaiting his arrival.

"I'm sorry. I just ran into Haru... she was getting bullied by a trio of animals." Juno had a knowing look.

"Was the leader a rabbit with a half black, half white face?" Legosi scratched his head.

"I think so..." he said, unsure. He hadn't really noticed her appearance that well. Juno's fists clenched.

"Mizuchi..." her voice growled. "Mizu- who?" he asked as they started walking together. Her face was contorted into a hateful sneer, barely exposing her bright shining fangs. "Mizuchi is the leader of that little posse. She gloats about being an endangered species, Harlequin Rabbit. Loves to rub it in everyone's face." Her sneer reduced to an angry frown.

"She says she lost her boyfriend because of her, Haru I mean, that's why she torments her." Legosi now understood the context of the situation he had just witnessed. "Really, she's just a huge asshole." He felt another load of sympathy for that poor rabbit. She must have the biggest target on her back, all the girls making her responsible for their breakups.

"Rumors are truly terrible..." he lamented. He looked over to Juno, the short burst of anger had seemingly intensified her fruity scent. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. The anger quickly dissipated from her face as she began to blush. "You're cute when you're angry," he said with a dorky smile. She pulled him towards her by his collar, stopping them both dead in their tracks.

"And you're adorable when you're nervous." The following kiss, sparking that lovely warmth again. They both smiled when they broke the kiss, walking hand in hand to the cafeteria.