"Kibi's arm is gonna get better!" The crying peafowl announces, showing you the message from Tao on his phone as he gleefully hugs you. His fluffy, teal-coloured feathers tickle your skin as a happy smile graces your face at the news. Turning to Legoshi, Dom unabashedly lets his tears of joy flow, the grey wolf holding a gentle expression in return. "He couldn't move his arm when you visited him! Oh, this is amazing!"

"Yeah," Legoshi answers, "All his hard work paid off."

Much to your and the canine's dismay, a giant shadow looming over the both of you forces a heavy dim onto your cheerful mood.

"I'm thinking of visiting him myself." The grizzly bear mutters, his beady eyes causing a nasty shiver to go down your spine at the malicious undertone.

"You should!" Dom cheers. "I know he'll be happy."

Naturally, you don't have an ounce of trust for the bear. He is a murderer after all, not to mention that his 'nice guy' act is putting you on edge. Legoshi seems to feel the same way, the canine's attention never wavering from the larger carnivore after that statement. Nervously, your gaze sways over to the wolf as he glowers at the bear over his shoulder, his arm simultaneously cleaning a spotlight with Fudge beside him.

The young wolf's shoulders are tense, his body hunched over as his natural instincts to protect his fellow peers kick in. As his dark eyes glare at Riz's back, the minimal amount of fur on his body bristles due to his rage.

He's thinking of visiting Kibi...
This is coming from the one with the least control over his instincts. The same male who ate one of his club members and threatened to kill two more.

"Legoshi, this spotlight-Hm?" Surprised at the sudden aggressive rumble coming from the wolf beside him and the shaking hand on his shoulder, Fudge stares at Legoshi with an unsure gleam in his onyx eyes. "Legoshi....did you just growl? Are you angry or something?"

"Sorry! That was just a hiccup." The wolf promptly apologizes, holding his hand over his mouth as he sweat-drops. Meanwhile, you roll your eyes at his immature behaviour, continuing to paint the small prop for the New Year's performance. If he's not going to turn the bear in to the police, he needs to get his anger under control before he causes a panic or accidentally destroys something.

"I don't know how I feel about Tao's two week suspension...You think they couldn't have done something else?" Dom's faint voice reaches your ears as him and Riz stand by the mirror, the peafowl's arms crossed over his chest.

"I don't think so." The bear responds and frankly, you're almost wondering why he isn't on the actors team. He fooled everyone into believing he's a big cuddly teddy bear, not a murderous machine that ripped his own friend to pieces. "It was an accident, but he still hurt Kibi. It's a terrible crime to be careless around herbivores."

And while you merely let out a frustrated exhale at the amount of bullshit coming from the Bear's mouth, Legoshi isn't able to control his anger as well as you are. Frankly, you have more experience with it.

"What?" The wolf growls, his body hunching over into a primal, predatory position as the veins in his arms bulge. His growls only increase in volume and even you flinch when the glass of the spotlight shatters beneath his furious grip.

"Are you just telling that to yourself?" Glaring at Riz, the grey wolf rises to his feet and stalks towards the larger carnivore. His ears are angled back, his fur stands on the edge; he embodies the very image of a predator moving in on his prey. Shoving Riz forward by the shoulder, the wolf leans in and dangerously growls, "Tell me how guilty Tao is for his crimes!"

The other club members are shocked, the herbivores rightfully scared at the display of carnivorous aggression, as they huddle together on the opposite side of the room. Juno deliberately grabs your hand and pulls you behind her as she stands slightly behind Bill, joining the group of puzzled and scared animals.

"Stop it Legoshi!" Bill shouts, the others voicing their concerns as well.

"What happened?!"

"Ah! Someone stop him!"

Even though it is a horrible idea to throw yourself in between two large-breed carnivores, especially as an injured omnivore, you do so without much fuss or hesitation. Carelessly freeing yourself from Juno's grip, ignoring the she-wolf's worried cries of your name, you rush forward and towards the two males.

"Let's stop this. They're all watching." Riz calmly states as you get close enough to hear them, which only seems to further enrage Legoshi. "I don't care...that's only your concern."

"Get yourself together, Legoshi!" You harshly whisper once you reach them, forcing yourself between the two males, with your hand laying itself onto the wolf's chest to keep him away from the bear. Although you don't trust Riz one bit, you have to admit that he is smart. He wouldn't be stupid enough to attack Legoshi or you in front of everyone else.

"You're making a scene, Wolfie." Seeing his eyes glance down to you for only a second, his growling never ceasing, you send the wolf a reprimanding glare. "You're scaring the others! He's not worth it, this achieves nothing. Stand down!"

"Y/n," The bear suddenly speaks up from your left and your entire body stiffens at the ominous tone of his voice, "What happened to your left arm? You smell like disinfectant and blood."

Legoshi's growls intensify as he hears that, the bear's intention more than clear. Meanwhile, a glimmer of fear runs over your features, only to be replaced with a cold glare seconds later. You hadn't thought that your injury, that had not yet fully healed, would be so obvious to carnivores. But it's not surprising; their noses are built for finding out which individual is the easiest to kill.

"Keep my name out of your mouth." You hiss, your eyes flickering between Legoshi and Riz as the wolf's muscled chest presses firmly against your hand in an attempt to get to the bear to probably rip his head off. Riz, entirely unbothered by the smaller carnivore, tilts his head to the side before speaking.

"All carnivores should know how to control their emotions. Your soul is inferior to mine."

Oh lovely, now he's also a religious extremist? Sure, being a murderer wasn't enough, just add some extra madness, why don't ya?!

"I don't feel torment anymore. Because I know how herbivores taste like-"

"Wah! Ow! You're so mean!" Caught off guard by the sudden shrill voice echoing through the room, you and everyone else turn your head to look at Pina. The dall sheep kneels in front of the broken spotlight, his cheery aura instantly lighting up the strained situation. "I was speaking for the poor spotlight here."

"Get a hold of yourself, Legoshi-senpai." Standing up and leaning his head onto the wolf's shoulder, the dall sheep sends a telling glance towards Riz. "You shouldn't cause any more damage than you already have. Right, Riz-Senpai?"

"I-Im sorry."Legoshi promptly apologises, his head hanging low with shame.

"Yeah, and?" Pina inquires further, leisurely putting his arm around Legoshi's shoulders.

"I'll pay for the spotlight..."

"There, that's what I wanted to hear. Problem solved." Pina finally declares and the others audibly exhale in relief, happy that a fight was avoided. Legoshi's dark eyes land on you as you let out a heavy sigh as well, running your hand over your face. Pina strides over to you, leaning down to lowly whisper in your ear. "Happy that I'm around now?"

"You have no fucking clue, sheep-boy." You groan, though a grin edges itself onto your lips. The both of you stare at Legoshi, who has his hand under his chin, obviously thinking. "This idiot barely listens to a single thing I say anymore. So thanks, I probably owe you one."

"Nah, no worries, Y/n-senpai." He beams, twirling a lock of his pure-white fur through his fingers before humming quietly. "Monster-senpai's thinking of something stupid, isn't he?"

"Oh definitely."

Later that day, the three of you sit on a rather abandoned bench, only a few other animals standing many yards away. Sitting next to Pina, the male Dall sheep acting as a sort of barrier between you and the grey wolf due to the fact that he has yet to come and talk to you about your argument after fighting the Shishigumi and Louis.

Most often, you're the one who tries and gives it her all to fix your relationship but for once, you want him to do it. After all, he defended someone who is currently selling children to be slaughtered for meat.

"Please don't expect me or Y/n to clean up after every mess you make...we're the only ones who know that Riz is the killer." Sighing, Pina rolls his eyes and crosses his arms and legs in a flamboyant manner. To be honest, you had seldom gotten such strong bisexual vibes as you have gotten from this boy. Legoshi covers his snout with his hands, his head hanging low with remorse as he says, "I'm really, really sorry."

"Well, I don't blame you for getting pissed off-"

"I do." You butt in, the wolf's ears flapping backwards at your comment. "If he has no interest in turning him in, he has to get his temper under control. He's just causing unnecessary panic amongst the others, not to mention putting an even bigger target on our backs because we have to clean up his messes."

"True." Pina agrees without hesitation before continuing. "Well, I'm guessing Riz is used to the whole 'good bear' act. I'd consider him to be the polar opposite of you."

"I have you and Y/n as my allies, but Riz is alone and acts in secrecy." Legoshi concludes as he sits up straight, though he instantly goes back to mushing his face into his hands. "If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't be able to take the torment...How can he be so calm? I felt this impenetrable wall, an overwhelming difference between us."

"So it's like you're a virgin and he isn't?" The herbivore absentmindedly suggests, which causes an instant flush of blood to shoot into your head at the memories, only for him to be surprised when the wolf energetically exclaims, "That's close!"

At that, even you give Legoshi a weird side glance.

"It's like he's in a completely different world because he knows something that I don't. I need to find out how he thinks..." The canine concludes, whilst you stare at him in confusion and Pina visibly sweat-drops. "Wait, wait, wait! Calm down! Why should you lump yourself together with a damn criminal?!"

His tail standing up straight and his brows furrowed seriously, the wolf grabs the sheep by his shoulders. "Come on, everyone has the potential to be a criminal. Especially carnivores."

"Hey, that's my line!" You complain. Only that you don't hold a bias against carnivores. "Stop stealing and twisting my lines, man!"

"But it's true, isn't it?" He protests cutely, his tail wagging at the pure opportunity to talk to you. Leaning forward over Pina's shoulder, your features morph into a childish pout. "No it's not, honey! Narcissists, psychopaths, sociopaths and people with anger issues are more likely to be criminals. Just because you guys have a genetic disadvantage in this society, doesn't mean you're instantly more likely to hurt someone. Actually, I'd say carnivores are more careful around herbivores, whilst herbivores can basically get away with any crime just because they're herbivores!"

After a moment of silence, Pina nods his head and holds up his hand to receive a high-five, which you gladly provide. "She's actually right, you know?"

Meanwhile, Legoshi continues to stare at you, absolutely dumbfounded. Then, his ears flap in excitement as his tail begins to wag faster. "You called me 'honey'."

"I-" However, you have no excuse. It was a small slip up, a term of endearment that made it past your lips. Scoffing, you ignore the rush of blood that fills your cheeks. "Don't let it get to your head. We're not on good terms, remember? Not until you make up your mind."

Standing up, you grab your bag and hurl it onto your right shoulder, sending the boys a sassy salute. "Well, I've got to go now. I promised Haru to help her out in the Gardening club. Pina, Legoshi, don't get killed. Bye!"

The boys stare after you until you're nothing but a small shape in the distance, before Pina turns his head back to the wolf whose hands are still on his shoulders. "What did you do now?"

"We had another fight." His ears hanging to the side whilst his wagging tail slows to a stop, the older male lets out a heavy sigh at the memory of that night. The dall sheep merely nods, absolutely unimpressed or surprised by the wolf's antics. "Honestly, it's almost sickening how devoted you two are to each other. It almost makes me envious."

Legoshi hums, his mind remaining on you. Really, he wishes things could've stayed the way they were during the summer holidays. But since then, both you and him had changed drastically. Of course, you had been right when you had pointed out and criticised his naïve, senseless behaviour but he couldn't help it. That's the kind of person he is, the kind of person his grandfather raised him to be. And once he has defeated Riz, he hopes that you can see that too.

But he won't wait until then to make things right between the two of you.

"Legoshi-senpai, are you thinking of eating me?" Pina asks out of nowhere, slightly concerned that the canine still hasn't let go of him. "So you can get closer to Riz?"

"No way! But I still found a way to solve this case." Quickly removing his hands off the herbivore, Legoshi grabs his backpack and rises from the bench, the sun shining brightly behind him and enveloping his form in a seemingly heroic gleam.

"I'm going to reach a mutual understanding with Riz by fighting him!" He declares. "I think it's possible...I have to hurry!"

And as the wolf dashes away, Pina stays behind with his hand raised in a befuddled 'goodbye'. Truly, in the rather short time that he has known the older canine, he has gotten into far more trouble than he ever had with any female that he was affiliated with. Thus, he crosses his arms and legs whilst glaring at nothing in particular.

I wouldn't be surprised if Legoshi-senpai shows up in tomorrow's news as a sex offender. I'm not gonna testify for him.

***

The stars shine down onto your lonely silhouette as you make your way back to your dorms, the skirt of your school uniform swaying in the light breeze of the silent night. You had stayed with Haru for longer than expected, having fallen asleep for a few hours in the bed in the shed.

Naturally, you were rather jittery about that, seeing as you knew about the countless atrocities that bed had seen. Still, you didn't really care. All that counted was that you actually got about four hours of sleep without waking up from your nightmares. It was refreshing and gave you a small glimmer of hope that the panda's therapy methods were working. Even if that now meant that you'd have to sneak past the dorm mother.

Although you hadn't done as much labour work with Haru as you usually did, you're still exhausted. Granted, it probably takes a lot more energy out of your body to heal the wound on your arm than you thought. The last time you had checked in with the nurses, they said all was fine and dandy; no sign of irritation or infection, which was a relief. It still lacked actual skin but that should grow back in the span of the next week.

Unluckily for you, your next appointment with Doctor Masago is going to be in two days. You still have to figure out a way to get out of the mess you got yourself stuck in.

The occasional cherry blossom leaf flies past you, the trees shedding themselves from the extra passengers. Autumn is almost there and before you'd know it, the first set of snow would fall from the heavens.

Broken out of your daydreaming, your ears recognize the soft rippling of water sounding from nearby and turning your head, your e/c coloured eyes land on the gallant pale stone of the fountain, the moonlight giving the teal water a magical glow. As if caught in a spell, you slowly make your way towards it, bending down slightly to trace the marvellous stone with your hand.

Smooth and old, the texture awakens a multitude of memories in your mind.

This was where Legoshi attacked you after all. That night was most likely the start of your bizarre little love story.

Which makes it almost ironic that this is the exact place where he'd find you again, though a changed wolf. The same as you were a changed girl, who'd no longer run from the big bad wolf in the night, but instead chose to fight the monsters lurking in the shadows.

Standing up straight, the presence of familiar eyes staring into your back, you turn on your heel to look at Legoshi. The wolf stands a few feet away from you, his expression overwhelmed and flabbergasted. His mouth opens and closes a few times, as if he wants to say something but doesn't know how or what to start with. Then finally, he speaks.

"Hey, Y/n."

"Holy hell, what happened to your fur?!" Of course, You are taken slightly aback by his appearance and the grey wolf nervously rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah, it rapidly grew back after...after something I did, so I could feel closer to Riz."

"You didn't eat someone, did you?" You deadpan, making the wolf gasp at your straight-forward question that he promptly denies. "No, no! I uh...I ate insects."

"But you love insects." You mutter, utterly astonished by his conviction to solve this case his own way. But you catch yourself, instantly putting your impassive walls back up.

"Anyways, what do you want?"

He visibly gulps, his gaze avoiding yours shyly as he takes a step closer to you. His eyes drift over to your bandaged upper arm, his ears angling downwards on his head. "What happened to your arm?"

"Golden lancehead viper venom. Reacted too aggressively. Happened about a week ago." You blurt out, remaining neutral though a hint of agitation makes its way into your voice. "But you don't just want to talk about my arm, do you? So really, Legoshi, what is it that you want?"

"I want to apologize."

That catches you off guard. Sure, you hoped that he'd come to a conclusion soon but you hadn't expected it to be this soon!

Well, fate sure is a prankster; leading you back to the same fountain where everything started. Awkwardly crossing your arms in front of your chest, you shift your weight as you stare at the canine. Thankfully, he takes that as a sign to continue.

"You're right. I am naïve. I trust too easily and I'm too kind for my own good sometimes." Legoshi's dark eyes bore into your own as he holds eye contact, taking another two cautious steps towards you. When you don't move away, he takes another step closer, now standing before you, looming over you as the natural apex predator he was born to be.

"But that is who I am as a person. I know that I tend to not think things through, that I'm reckless and yeah, even stupid. But I'm also determined. I'm going to fight Riz and solve this my own way. And I'm going to bring back Louis, because I believe there's still something good in him. That's how my grandfather raised me. He taught me to be kind."

This is probably the first time Legoshi willingly mentions his grandfather. It leaves you entranced, your eyes reflecting the many stars above. Swallowing thickly, the wolf continues with a heavy voice as he stares down at you, his tail gently swaying behind him.

"I know that you don't think Louis can be saved. You see him as a lost cause and I won't fault you for it. But I can't hold that same grudge." Gently grabbing your hand, he intertwines your fingers, blood rushing to your checks at the action. "I'm going to do this my way. This is the path I am choosing. And I want you by my side through it all. I don't want to lose you and I can't let you go through all of this on your own anymore. I'll be strong for you. I'll protect you."

Taking a deep inhale, his breath shaking slightly as the wind plays with his fur.

"I love you. I don't ask that you forgive Louis or that you're okay with all of this. But I'm asking you to trust me, Y/n. Trust that I'm going to win my fight with Riz because I wouldn't be able to live with myself, in life or in death, to leave you alone. I'm sorry, but you're stuck with me." An awkward, adorable smile adorns his face, the sight of it filling your heart with warmth.

"So...can you trust me?"

It's silent between the two of you, even if it is just for a single, long-lasting moment.

The world has stopped around you and you're sure that you can hear the twinkling of the stars above, the same stars that have watched your journey through life and death. The rippling sound of the water echoes through the silence and you swear that you could suffocate from the heavy emotions filling the atmosphere.

Of course, it's a lot to take in. But this is what you needed to hear from him, even if you weren't aware of it yourself. Legoshi isn't you and that's the most wonderful thing about him. Just like him, you can't force someone to live with your ideologies. Like ying and yang; if you believe someone is utterly doomed, there has to be someone who is convinced of the opposite.

"Okay." You finally answer, tightening your fingers around those of the wolf as you bring his hand to your cheek. "I trust you, Wolfie."

He hums happily, his tail beginning to rapidly wag behind him. Then, he leans in, his eyes quietly asking the question you've already answered with yes.

"Just don't die, got it?" You smirk, your heart skipping a beat from his reassuring smile. Grabbing the collar of his shirt, you bring him further down to you and connect his lips with yours.

With the stars as your witness, fate had brought the two of you together again, by the fountain where everything began. 

***

Hey ho, homies! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

We've got the OTP back together! Fitting for that, I put "Rewrite the stars" from our glorious Queen Zendaya up above because this is one of the songs that fit this Ship the most. It just always gives me Serotonin.

Now, I was kind of unsure how to get Legoshi and Y/n back together because there were a thousand possibilities. I chose this one because I feel like these two would value communication, loyalty, trust and respect towards each other more than others. It's really pure to write, which is why I love it, but that's why I decided to not have Legoshi outright apologize.

I want people to kind of take away that you shouldn't be the same person in a relationship. You're both supposed to grow in it, to be the best version of yourself. Legoshi is determined and kind of pure-hearted, he's most likely always going to believe in the good in people. Like mentioned, they're completing each other in that sense, as in Y/n provides the necessary judgement and Legoshi the kindness. In a sense, I want them both to learn from each other.

Going further, I now designed the new cover for my friend DoctorPortal455 's book "Beastars Rewritten". It's a Jugosi fanfic and if any of you are interested in that ship, check out his story! This is the new cover I drew in ClipStudioPaint.

Anyways, I hope y'all are safe and sound and healthy in this crazy Pandemic! Stay safe guys, gals and nonbinary pals!

See you in Chapter 63!