adieu` *.

Juno made it terribly hard to resist teasing when Louis knew he could get these kinds of explosive reactions from her. Maybe it was unkind, to tease after they had parted on such painful terms–but he didn’t know how else to relate to her. It was the only way he’d ever managed to express affection to animals his age, maybe because it didn’t require him to be open and vulnerable about his feelings.

A smile tugged at his lips as she went off, narrating her vision of his Parisian day-to-day. If she meant to shame him by mocking the excess of his wealth, it was ineffective–he was more entertained than anything else. He hadn’t expected Juno’s energy and passion to have subsided at all, and here was the proof it hadn’t.

“Worse than Legoshi? About what, not giving you what you want?” he asked, leaning back on his hands. It was true, he did still think about that day in the subway, and how Juno had drawn his fingers into her mouth, over the brutal points of her teeth, about how firmly she had gripped his hands (You’re going to kiss me today, she’d said). But they hadn’t. And then she had told him she loved him, and left.

“You say I have a fetish for carnivore teeth–but what about you?” he asked, cocking his head. “Is it the antlers, or you just like a partner who’s weaker than you?” Not exactly an ideal conversation to be having in the middle of the street, but Juno had taken it there first! It was tempting to tell her to get in the car, and they could go eat somewhere, but he was pretty sure she’d tell him to fuck off if he tried.

“Or maybe you just prefer deer meat.” He didn’t mean it badly–joking about being eaten was just a force of habit with him by then.

    There’s no use denying that some part of her, like the deer, relished over the fire that ignited between them over their silly quips. A few choice words bringing about a conversation reminiscent of their days at Cherryton Academy and her stay in the Eastern country. Juno finds herself scoffing at her own suggestion being thrown back at her and soon a smirk graces her features as she prepares to counter with another witty remark.

     Or maybe you just prefer deer meat.

   But then he says that. And she almost forgets how to breathe. The sound of her heart pulsating hard against her ears. She falters only for a brief moment, claws digging into the smooth flesh of her palms until she crosses her arms and allows her fur to bristle at his words, though persistent in disguising the true terror that lay beneath her flesh. She too decided to lean up against the car upon propping her bicycle properly.

     What was that about trying to get away from one’s prey? She was the prey now, ankle caught against a bear trap that Louis had unknowingly set. Her legs wouldn’t budge. When she huffs it’s all in a helpless effort to gain some needed confidence. “If Legoshi took a good chunk out of you and didn’t eat you whole I’d say that speaks for itself when it comes to your terrible flavour.”

     Juno swallows hard, refusing to grant herself any chance of salivating.

     And that’s the worst part because she doesn’t believe that Louis’ flavour would be terrible at all. Even if the circumstances were different, going back abroad may be the best decision she’d made yet. Or maybe she was just experiencing the typical hunger considering it was almost time for lunch. Ordinary hunger doesn’t change the fact that she thinks he’ll taste delicious. Rex help her.

     Juno searches the deer’s eyes for a moment, trying to see if she could sense fear in them besides the herbivore instinct and she doesn’t. A part of her feels better in knowing that the trust still lingers that her chest feels heavy when she subtly suggests that perhaps it’s best they part ways again.

Juno’s snappy tone would have been more convincing if he hadn’t seen her tail wagging just a second ago. Whatever she said, some part of her was pleased to see him, and Louis knew he felt entirely too smug about that. He was married, and Juno had walked away, and he had let her go, so he had no business thinking about what feelings Juno may have retained for him (or about that old drunk text still sitting in his messages).

“And is that any way to greet your old upperclassman?” he asked, unable to resist following her over to the bike to perch on the hood of the car, balancing his weight on his good foot. There was no way he could let Juno flounce off that easily!

Alright, okay, so it had crossed his mind landing in Charles de Gaulle if he might see Juno here–assuming she was still in the city–but really, what were the odds? He’d scoffed at his own fanciful thoughts and brushed them aside. Paris was big, and full of animals–even if he and Juno did cross paths, they’d probably never realize it had happened.

Yet, here she was. As lovely and temperamental as ever, a faint breeze stirring her thick fur, pedaling her bike around Paris like something out of a film.

“You’re lucky we were going slow. Do you usually swerve in front of moving cars like that?”

    Lips forming a thin line and eyes narrowing at the deer she shakes her head at his ridiculous question and scoffs. The poor chauffeur behind that dark windshield must be confused out of his mind! Juno maneuvers around Louis reciting in her head to not pay mind to the fancy cologne trying to mask the deer’s true scent, grip tightening against her handlebars. He really knew what to say to work her up! Wasn’t he tired of playing tug of war?

    Juno shoots another frown.

   “Of course not! There was no time! And don’t act all smug when we both know that when you step inside of whatever fancy suite you booked at a hotel you’ll be sulking — oh, woe is me!” Perhaps she’s exaggerating when she throws a dramatic hand up to press against her forehead, but as soon as her bicycle hits the floor again she’s running her mouth and gesturing wildly with both hands.

   “Time to cry in my marble bathtub surrounded by pearls because I don’t want to admit I have some weird, carnivore teeth fetish ever since Juno kissed me so of course I’d rather hit her with my car and drag her across the pavement like she’s some loose tarp that I just happened to catch beneath my tires and have the unfortunate experience of tearing out!” Oh. Oh Rex.

    And it would seem that fate isn’t on her side today as that long forgotten growl comes rearing its head inside her stomach. Fear would strike her if not for further embarrassment and she plays to her advantage, allowing the pent up emotions to overtake the dread. “The thing is! You’re worse than Legoshi!”

Businessmen ferried from one side of the world to the other, rushing past landmarks and living out of hotels were not an unusual sight, and Louis had become just another one of those. Two days he’d been in Paris so far, and he’d seen nothing, done nothing but dine with his business contacts there, and worked the whole time. A waste of a visit to such a historic city? Probably, but he wouldn’t have come at all if it wasn’t so necessary to court these particular animals personally.

So as he sat in back of the car, staring at the heavily tinted window, he was not seeing the old buildings or quaint cafes or stylish pedestrians; he saw nothing but the outlines of more work he would have to get done before leaving, and what he would do when he made it back home.

The chauffeur hitting someone with the car definitely shook things up.

The blare of the horn yanked Louis from his thoughts in time to see the car strike the animal on the bike, and then he was leaning forward to see, because he knew that fur color, he knew that voice, he’d recognize it anywhere–

Juno!

Without stopping much to think, Louis opened the rear door of the car and spotted a notebook lying on the pavement where Juno’s things had been tossed out of her bike basket. Picking it up, he offered it to her.

“You should really be more careful,” he said, thanking Rex above he was not a canine with a tail that would betray the excitement that surged through him at seeing her again.

    With a sigh of exasperation the canine agrees, reaching for the remaining item that the kind stranger had picked up. “My excitement got the best of me. Today’s forecast is the sunniest all throughout the week —” Hold the phone. Her throat seizes up. That voice. Compared to who she could only assume is the person she’s thinking about, her tail didn’t hesitate in wagging without her approval, only for her to force such a bad habit to quit its dead giveaway when she finally looked up and stared into the same eyes that still had her heart.

    Eyes widening in a mix of shock and horror, Juno snatches her notebook from Louis’ grasp and… with a huff she stuffs her journal into her messenger bag. She makes sure it's zipped up this time before stomping her foot on the ground and spouting off what they both know to be false. She just needed a reason to yell without divulging how she truly felt.

    “That’s not any way to greet a lady!” her hysterics come off more annoyed than angry as she crosses her arms. She could really stomp around all day now that this has happened. Of all the places, why the City of Love? Isn’t London a bullet train away? Couldn’t this ghost of Lover’s past just end up there or somewhere else?! Even if she were to put her walls up she already knew that there would always be one side ready to crack and crumble. And she hated when her emotions worked against her, especially in front of someone she couldn’t hide from.

    Despite all the mixed feelings she recalls one thing that’s most prominent: she never did get to respond to that drunk text she’d sent. While some time has passed, leaving the CEO of a massive corporation hanging is so embarrassing! This is all karma coming back to bite her. With Louis standing before her again… it’s just too soon even with months passed.

    Lilac eyes snap open at the sound of a car stopping abruptly as it blares its horns and without much hope of stopping considering the small incline, but an incline nonetheless helping her pick up speed she grabs the handle bars and attempts to swerve away rather poorly. In her panic she collides with the front side of the vehicle and she’s on the floor thankfully without much injury other than a possible scrape on the knee or elbow.

    Crap! Juno jumps up. She bows apologetically, not paying much mind to whoever’s behind the dark glass other than having disrupted someone’s day. “ Sorry! I’ll get out of your hair right away! ” By Rex how embarrassing! She begins gathering her belongings, at least what has managed to spill out of her messenger bag and her bicycle’s basket. Walking over to pick up her sketchbook and dust it off.

tw: horror + blood ! note: whoever sent this, you’re welcome it went from 0 - 100 real quick.

   the nerve of some people! “ What?! Of course not! ” she shrieks at the anonymous note she’d found stuck onto her locker. so much for worrying herself of a secret admirer she’d have to deal with and reject but this is still bad.

   and even more so when she realized the entirety of the girls’ locker room had gone to absolute silence and eyes were on her, paired with the unmistakeable growling of her stomach. this is bad.

   “ S-sorry! I was uh, just... disagreeing with today’s horoscopes! Yeah! ” procuring the morning paper she’d hastily stuffed in her locker in the morning she presents it to the rest of the girls by waving it about. “ I should’ve known better than to trust these things! They’re so fickle and I’m just frustrated. But anyway, I’m pretty hungry so who wants ramen? It’s on me today. ” Sheila the cheetah though giving the grey wolf a curious look agreed to the offer, then Els, and Bill who had overheard the invite loud and clear and dared to stick his head through the door.

  The chorus of irate school girls soon followed after quick shrieks and gasps, hurrying to cover themselves. School supplies thrown at the male intruding upon the women’s quarters. Juno just tried to drown everything out...

‘Ew! Who even let you wait outside?! Get the hell out, Bill.’

‘I’m so sorry guys! Bill just wait outside!’

‘Els we’re friends but you know Bill is an idiot!’

‘Goddammit stop throwing shit at me I’m only here because I overheard ramen dammit! I was gonna leave after anyway! Juno help a guy out! You and I are starving, we make mistakes when we’re hungry right?! ’

   Starving...

   is she? She’s hungry, but for what? the ramen didn’t sound so nice anymore. chocolate has lost its meaning. rice suddenly had a funny texture in her brain. maybe... maybe she’s starving for some meat. no. don’t be stupid. she raises the note again to read it once over. whoever sent this... whoever knows she’s attracted to the Beastar long gone from Cherryton sounds like they’re almost mocking her and provoking her. they must’ve seen her declaration on live television during that stupid interview.

                  and there were many who were opposed to her becoming the Beastar.

    balling her hands into fists until her claws would draw blood from her flesh, Juno shuts her locker tight and presses her back against it in an attempt to calm herself. but she catches her reflection in the mirror across the room and amongst the voices of her classmates she sees her shadow; black with piercing red eyes. the stance the figure held is jarring to say the least. how can it move while just standing there and staring at her? is this how Legoshi felt with Haru?

    “ Legoshi-senpai, help me... ” she whimpers softly, unheard by the voices around her.

    but then the demon speaks. not of her voice but the voices of memories better forgotten. the monster that had always lingered behind her and danced in a world parallel to her own only witnessed by the naked eye in a form of a shadow on the stage. it stares into her soul and brings out her worst memories.

1, 2, 3 fouettés...

    ‘The Swan Queen herself. Juno did you put glass in your competition’s pointe shoes to get the part...’

21, 22, 23 fouettés...

    ‘or did you bite their toes off? I bet those teeth are tough. Honestly the only reason you got the part in Swan Lake isn’t because you’re a good dancer.’

30, 31 and 32 fouettés.

    ‘It’s because everyone’s afraid of you. You’re a Black Swan through and through. You’re a monster.’

    “ LEAVE ME ALONE! ” she screams, fist hard and aimed to kill. The mirror shatters and blood is on the floor. There’s tears in her eyes and she doesn’t care if her knuckles are bleeding. Doesn’t care if there’s voices of concern around her. More afraid of the herbivores and carnivores combined placing their caring hands on her than they feared her. Truly these friends cared for her and didn’t see her as anything different than who she truly is but...

    She’s never sobered up so fast. Wishing she’d just ignored the chime from her phone, gone to sleep and waken up having forgotten all about her adventurous night of drinking and texting ---- the wolf instead reached for her cellular device and died inside when she saw who she had sent her drunken message to. Alert more than ever Juno texted back in a panic.

[ text ]: I’m sorry! [ text ]: I went out drinking with some friends. [ text ]: My emotions and over all fatigue must’ve set in when I got home. [ text ]: I guess my mind thought

    Juno stopped, contemplating on whether she should send what she’s planning to say. The obvious answer would be a ‘no’ considering she was and would never be in an intimate relationship with Louis. She’s embarrassed. How could she slip up? Would he think she’s trying to play with his feelings? He must hate her now... her fingers felt cold and suddenly, she really wished that Louis was sitting on her bed with her even if just for company.

[ text ]: Never mind. [ text ]: It’s nothing important.

    She missed him most and her heart knew that.

[ text ]: Anyway I’ll let you go. Take care.

❝Oh, this? It’s nothing to worry your pretty ‘lil head over. It’s an allergic reaction I’m having from a new soap I tried out. Who would have guessed I’m THAT sensitive?❞

If Melon was smart, he would retract his arm from her touch right there and now. The less she inspects the result of his hybrid genetics, the BETTER. Yet, the ‘gazelle’ didn’t bother. In fact, he lifted his limb so she could get a proper look at it. The ‘sensei’ gained a sort of SICK thrill to be so obviously DIFFERENT from the common mammal, yet not a single soul notices what sort of BEAST is before them. Ah…it’s not proper to fantasize tearing apart his pupil with his bare teeth. Herbivore or carnivore, the tutor would love a good HUNT. Poor, dear Juno. What would she think if she could read his mind full of debauchery? Well, she DOES have the traits of a wolf. They’re most likely far more alike than different. How many of her fellow students had she wanted to devour whole? Sick just like HIM.

❝You FLATTER me, though. The other tutors are just as capable as I am. I’ll keep it a SECRET that you’re playing favourites.❞

That’s when he finally moved his arm to be able to pat the top of her head. The impulse of grabbing the hairs of her head and YANKING them crossed his mind, but he refrained. Instead, he gently patted the strand hairs before his fingers tapped against the papers on top of the desk. He’s graded her homework, wanting the wolf to review the mistakes made along the way. Math is truly a hassle, but the subject comes naturally to him. Why not get paid to help a kid learn how to add their numbers up right as he scopes out the creatures that roam here at this school? A perfect excuse to eventually get the IDEAL prey alone and slaughter. 

Okay, perhaps there is a small part of him that likes teaching.

❝You got the basics of the problem correct. Good job! The tricky part is remembering to divide BEFORE trying to move the ‘x’ to a different side of the equation.❞

   as the man explains the reasoning behind the strange spotting Juno finds herself inspecting closely. she’s certain she’d seen a similar pattern before but the spots were much too small to come to any conclusion of sort to what they might be. with another peek she just finds the usual melon leaf tattoos she’d seen before in their previous meetings. she looks up at the gazelle, smiling softly through knitted brows before releasing his arm obviously still quite concerned for the other’s health.

   but when he moves to pet her head her expression goes blank for a moment, shoulders dropping at how silly they must look to the others if they didn’t have the privacy that they did. never mind the mathematics! she couldn’t afford to have her grades drop and she meant what she’d said. she closes her binder for the day, following the herbivore with her eyes as she pleaded her case. “ you make everything sound so simple when it comes to math! and half of the other tutors don’t know history like you do when i have questions for that! ”

CAREFULLY, LIKE A GENTLE RAIN ON DRY EARTH.

You've been left beaten down and by someone you really trusted and loved, so now love doesn't come easy for you. You want it to. You want to love and be loved, but you're not sure you remember how. So you need someone else to take the lead. They have to be gentle and sweet and patient. They have to watch out for you, and make sure you’re doing okay, because most days you feel a little fragile, if not totally shattered. But someone will come along who will put those pieces back together again.

For a moment, Louis’ brain had to just process what Juno had said. That was why she was checking up on his engagement? The dismayed shock in his eyes was something that it took him several seconds to get under control.

“Wait!” Without thinking, without hesitating, acting purely on impulse, Louis stepped after Juno and grabbed her arm, hooking his fingers loosely in the crook of her elbow, nothing she couldn’t remove herself from with a simple shift of posture. “You’re…leaving?” He tried to keep his voice steady, to quell the urgency (panic?) that was creeping up his throat, tightening his chest.

He let go of her and straightened up. How cruel was he, to try to hold her there? To keep her on the hook when he had told her and told her that nothing could happen between them? When he had promised to forget about the kiss? How could he be so selfish?

How could he do that to her?

“That’s…very responsible of you,” he said, unable to meet her eyes when he said it. Louis was a good liar, and a talented actor, but this…this hurt like a knife between the ribs, and it was so hard to pretend that it didn’t. It’s for the best, he told himself, over and over. It’s best for Juno. Wasn’t it what he wanted for her? Moving on, finding a dreamy wolf to fall for–someone who could give her the life she wanted? For her not to be made a laughingstock of: the wolf who fell in love with a deer?“I’m sure your father will be glad to have you close.”

Louis willed himself to keep talking, to meet her lovely eyes, to unclench his fist, and let Juno go. It was natural to cling to her, he told himself with the patience one employed towards an ignorant child, when so many who were important to him had been torn from his grasp, their faces and voices and words forever ingrained in his memory, but for those who existed for him only in the theoretical. But it wasn’t fair to Juno, to bear the price of his past, realities of which she was not even aware.

“Best friend”…was that meant to imply they were close, or emphasize they were not romantic? He didn’t have time to think about it now. Later, when Juno was thousands of miles away, and Louis was left with this pain in his chest and nothing else, he could analyze her words from every possible angle, chasing his own thoughts in circles, worse than he had ever done with his father.

“I hope you find happiness in Paris, Juno,” he said, and put every bit of sincerity into his words that he could. If he could not have her himself–and he never could–then he wanted her to find utmost happiness elsewhere. In fact, it was concern for her happiness that helped him see he had to push her away. So what if he was digging his fingers into his chest and removing one of his own organs? He’d been through pain before; he could take it. “It’s been…“ What? A pleasure? An honor? As always, when confronted with the deeply emotional, Louis’ words seemed to fail him, and his throat constricted in the way it did when he started panicking that he couldn’t speak. “I…” It felt like there was a glitch in his brain where the language function simply blacked out.

Breathe, he through through the frantic fluttering in his chest. Breathe and use your words. He would not allow this moment, his last chance to say goodbye to Juno, to be stolen from him.

“I’m glad to have known you,” he said at last,

And he was. No matter what happened, he was.

   Her eyes shut tight when he takes hold of her person, her body seizing up without any sense of how to react next. The sudden ire in her urges her to retaliate and attack; slap him about to place some sense in that thick skull of his. She wants to scream at him for daring to touch her and her mind, quickly jumping to the conclusion that of course! Of course he’d confess his love for her now when she’s chosen to leave. How cruel of him. But Louis doesn’t speak until she turns with a confused look about her. You’re... leaving?

   “ Y - yeah... ” his touch slips away as she turns back around to face him, nodding to confirm what he’d heard her say. If she’s already feeling lonely she can just imagine what going back to Paris would be like; no real friends, no Legoshi who’d become her sibling proper and no Louis. How ironic for the City of Love to feel so empty and she hasn’t even set foot back on it yet.

   And she could tell that her leaving may do more harm to Louis than he himself realizes, knowing how he is now. She can hear the turmoil in his voice and see the uncertainty and despair in his eyes. They’ve always been terrible at hiding their emotions towards each other and she’d gotten better at reading the man before her. He didn’t want her to leave when he’d insisted so many times before.

   She should break his heart. She had every right to. That’s what her ambitious and greedy self would do. Tell him off and demand to never see each other again; cut the red string binding them once and for all to save herself the heartache. That’s what her mind tells her. Her heart, however, has changed. She couldn’t bring herself to scream and yell. She couldn’t lie to him or herself. “ I would say the same thing if... if I wanted to lie to you. ”

   Lips tremble. “ But I can’t do that! I don’t want to go home and regret it later in life that I --- never got to say how I truly feel. And the truth is... ” He needs to forget about me. The pain of seeing Louis struggle is unbearable even when he tries to hide it. Juno knows that she plays a huge role in his indecisiveness concerning an important part of his future. So she does what any brave wolf would and could do as the choice is all she has left: she chooses for Louis.

Louis had grown very adept at avoiding the question where Azuki was concerned, and there was probably only one animal on Earth he wanted to talk about her less with, and that was his father, who was dead, which made Juno the crowning jewel on the list of animals with whom Louis did not want to discuss his fiancee.

Every time Juno mentioned her, Louis thought of how it was her that came to mind when he was desperately trying to consummate his relationship with Azuki, and the cocktail of guilt, desire, and anxiety that arose out of it was nothing short of stomach-churning.

“I give her what she needs. I suppose that makes her happy. Why do you care?” More importantly: why was she asking about Azuki at all?

    “ I... ” I care because... “ I... ” should she confess? He already knew how she felt surely. There would be no point, really. Her chest had never felt so heavy with ache. It’s just not fair! But would her continuous pursuit be fair to that beautiful girl? She’d be stealing someone’s person... and this bad romance can’t compare to her trying to get in between Haru and Legoshi. Louis and his wife to be; they were both the same. They had to work! They... had to. And she’s just... she needed to go back to Paris.

    “ I care because it’s good that you make her happy! ” she smiles brightly and surprisingly it isn’t forced for once. She’s happy for Louis even if his soon to be perfect life would be the end of cafe meetings and dancing in the dark. Of course there’s still a part of her that’ll worry when he sets foot in the Black Market, but he’d proven to be a stubborn deer to her plenty times. If anyone can survive in their cruel society that person would be Louis. But her...

    How many times did she have to face death? She’s tired of it. Resurrecting her person has become tedious. She’s done it for her mother and father, Legoshi and now... well, the saying goes that the third time’s the charm. She loved Louis and she would never love again. Juno stood tall, nodding with determination despite her heart breaking. She looks into his eyes, knowing that this may very well be their last.

    “ You two will do great things together, I know it! I didn’t mean to worry you... to be honest, I wanted to see my best friend before he went off thinking I got taken by a gang or something. ” she laughs at her own silly thoughts, though the hint of sorrow is unmistakeable. “ I’ve decided to graduate back at Paris so after this year I’ll be going home. I think doing so will give my father some peace of mind, you know? ”

    Is he playing dumb? She’s being serious. " You know who I’m talking about. That beautiful deer. Your... your fiancée. ” Hearing herself say that word out loud hurts more than she could’ve imagined. Her chest is heavy with dread. Not because of rejection, no, she’s quite used to his antics.

But seeing that gorgeous woman... ignites something in her. Fear and courage intermingling together. The physical form of the individual she’s heard mentioned before truly confirms that this time, Louis really is out of her league. And there’s both pain... and comfort in knowing that. Juno’s fists clench. “ Do you make her happy? ”

Louis got the feeling that hearing Juno worry about whether or not he might’ve gotten hurt (or “worse”) was something that was going to circle around in his head quite a while after this was over.

When she had come to the Black Market before, and tried to convince him to come back to school, and cried when he refused…had she been worried then?

“Juno!” Louis hurried after her and grabbed her arm to stop her from leaving. Fighting with her was so much easier than listening to her pour out confessions of affection and concern; this was familiar. It was how they’d started out. Louis had been fighting his entire life: it felt so much more natural than trying to accept something softer.

There was probably something wrong about that, but he didn’t have time to worry about it.

This wolf always had to make things so difficult! She was angry at him for trying to protect her from armed gangsters, angry at him for trying to comfort her…what did she want, besides things he could never give her?

“Of course we can,” he said. “As far as anyone knows, we were never there. Someone else will find the bodies and call it in in the morning, and by then, we’ll have been gone for hours.” It occurred to him then that she hadn’t even suggested going to the police, and he had to appreciate her practicality.

Actually, he thought, I should call Lex. The Waraigumi were not so particular about their food sources as other gangs, and in fact, took special pleasure in the consumption of fellow carnivores. If he could alert them while the bodies were still fresh, they might take care of clean-up before anyone else had to know about it.

It wasn’t that he thought the Shishigumi would hurt Juno–certainly not if they knew she was with him–but there was no need for her to go getting involved in these sorts of things. Besides, their new boss was not someone he trusted, even if he would be otherwise perfectly at ease leaving Juno with them. Hearing her speak of them reminded him how she had found her way there before, walked right up to one of the most notorious gangs in the city, and demanded to see their boss.

If Juno lost a fight, he knew it would never be from a lack of courage.

“The gun that you touched I’ll give to them to strip,” he added more quietly. “That way we can make sure it can’t be traced back to that crime scene.” Or to you, he thought, but kept it to himself. The odds were low, but not nonexistent, although he was done with making gestures to Juno that night: clearly, she was not in the mood. “We were attacked; that mess isn’t ours to clean up.”

He huffed through his nose, with a tiny shake of his head, as if to clear his thoughts.

“Let’s go. You’re bloody from that fight, and we need to clean up before we can get a ride anywhere.” There was a bar nearby that he had frequented with the Shishigumi; he was sure they could stop there and duck into the restroom to rinse the worst signs of the fight off themselves before going anywhere else.

Juno was in a state. Part of that was his fault, apparently, but a greater (he thought) part was whatever the shooting had awoken in her. Maybe he shouldn’t get her home just yet–if she would tolerate his company any longer, it might be better for them to find a place to calm down first. It would give him a chance to make a few phone calls too, away from the house staff.

    “ Let go of me! ” she demands, twisting her wrist just enough to feel the deer’s grip slip and allow her escape. Despite her eagerness to leave, however, she gives him her attention with a stern look about her face; knitted brows relaxing slightly as she hears the offer Louis suggests. She believes him.

    Of course she would. If it were anyone else, perhaps not ---- unless they knew the Black Market like Louis did. He ran the Shishigumi for a time and survived the affairs. If anyone would know who could dismantle a gun and get rid of the evidence and get the proper cleaners involved of course the person would be this troublesome deer.

    The idea still didn’t stop her from scoffing at his next comment of the blood staining her clothes and fur, clearly still iffy about some aspects of what had and will occur. She had no reason to distrust Louis even if having been an ally to the Shishigumi would be enough of a valid reason - her concern continues to stem for his well being.

    Was that attack random or targeted? She didn’t know, and her not knowing sent her spiralling into internal panic. If Legoshi had been in her place he’d think the same. Wolves were natural hunters and problem solvers. Once their mind had set on something they rarely let that one thing go no matter how small and her focus happened to get stuck on one question: would Louis get attacked again? Juno hesitantly nodded, starting to form a plan of her own.

    Simple, but... intimate. She hoped once she suggested the idea he wouldn’t think anything else of it. She wouldn’t mean anything else if their complicated relationship didn’t get in the way of mundane actions and suggestions. “ Okay, I trust you. ”

    “ excuse me! put the gentleman’s purchase on my card please! ” with a bright smile she hurries to the cashier to tap her credit, taking her pre-order of matcha latte and the lion’s purchase as they stand to the side to make space for the next in line. taking a moment to place her wallet back in her purse and apologize for the brief wait she picks up the other’s beverage and proceeds to offer it to its rightful owner. “ you’re shishigumi, right? ”

    a brief silence would fall over the shop, eyes shifting to the two carnivores in question prior to the cashier coughing and being the one to resume the rhythm of business. this girl never really had a filter as one would come to find out, but she did have heart and she did recognize a rather friendlier than most of the yakuza’s faces in the crowd. “ i hope you don’t mind! take this as a token of my appreciation for our previous meeting. ”