Ryuu opened the door, walking inside first. Nova hesitated at the edge. His body didn't want to cross over and his eyesight was limited to just his comrade getting to the teacher, waking her up from slumber.

“I'm sorry, it happened again…” She yawned, her head still on the desk.

“It's his fault, not yours. He should be more respectful of your situation.”

“No, there's no excuse for me either. My conduct has been inadequate of a professor.” She took the coffee from his paws. “Thanks Ryuu, always available to help me out.”

She sipped the cup while her brain processed the situation and cognition became fully operational. “Wait…how long have I been asleep? Didn't you leave to get Nova? Where is he?”

Ryuu didn't reply and stepped aside. The teacher's desk was on a higher level and the wolf was tall enough to cover the entrance.

She instantly swallowed the coffee, caught off guard. The giraffe was wearing a brown jacket, a purple shirt and a dark blue skirt. Her skin was brighter than the common giraffe.

“Oh God, I'm so sorry. Please come in…”

The teacher looked really ashamed. It reminded him of himself and he couldn't refuse. She looked kind and polite, the type of person you'd never want to disappoint.

Nova pushed himself inside and inched next to Ryuu.

“This is extremely embarrassing, please forgive my lack of manners.”

Rosanne raised her long neck and stared at the clock. “It's almost 11 AM.” She muttered, upset, “I can't believe this…”

Nova glued his eyes to her, afraid to see the students staring back at him. He heard whispering and tried as hard as possible to not listen.

“Might as well use the time remaining wisely then…” She sighed, “I'm Rosanne. I'll be your teacher for literature, history and language. Why don't you tell us something about yourself?”

“I'm…uh-"

“Nova please face the class. You're talking to them…” She remarked.

The class didn't look like a battlefield anymore. It surprised him how fast everything changed back to normal. He noticed that there weren't as many students as he once thought. He counted eleven students, twelve including himself.

In the first line he saw a sloth on the left, now half awake, a beaver and a monkey in the middle, and an owl on the right. A little desk was positioned on top of the monkey one with a mouse. It looked weird, but on the ground the mouse would never see what's going on, or worse, get crushed by mistake.

In the second line, a swan on the left, a fox in the middle and a husky on the right.

The last line was basically empty seats. The crocodile was the only one there sitting on the left. Did some students not show up today? Maybe that was where his and Ryuu’s desks were.

The seats must've been assigned by someone because they were organized by their height. Tallest and biggest animals were positioned deep at the end while medium and small ones were closer to the blackboard and not only that. Every accessory was tailored for the animal it was meant to be used with. The mouse with her tiny desk and the owl with a desk and a tree branch where he could've landed on.

Other than that, the classroom was huge compared to how many people were inside. This place was clearly meant to contain a bigger number of students.

“We already know the sleeping beauty over there!” Natalie the beaver laughed, “Let's get this over with!”

Nova's cheeks went on fire as he lowered his ears down, attempting to cover himself.

“You know what? You're right Natalie.” The giraffe said, standing up. “Nova, please go to that empty desk we prepared for you in the third line, the middle one. I have a better idea.”

The panda reluctantly nodded and moved among the students as he reached his place.

Everyone's eyes were on him.

“Natalie gave me a nice idea to help your new classmate feeling welcomed here.” She turned to Ryuu. “Please go ahead and introduce yourself again. After you're done someone else will do the same.”

The students reacted with complaints towards the idea, scowls and frowns at Natalie.

“We were going to do that anyway. Give me a break.” The beaver shrugged.

“My name is Ryuu. I'm a black wolf, fifteen years old and I joined this school to achieve my dream to be a programmer.” He explained, looking at him.

“I attended during his audition exam.” The teacher added, “He showed us a prototype of a new communication app.”

“It was just a replica. The real deal needs time to be ultimately complete.”

“Very good Ryuu! You can go back to your place now.” She hummed happily, “Okay... Hmmm...Esmeralda! Come, you're next.”

A swan stood up from Nova's right side. As soon as he saw her, he recalled how she took care of him yesterday. The bird smiled at him while moving past towards the desk.

“Hello, my name is Esmeralda. I'm a sixteen years old swan and, I don't know if you remember me or the others, but we were the ones who looked after you-"

“Also the ones who hit you,” the beaver intervened, laughing.

“As I was saying please call me Aly or Essy. Feel free to use another nickname too, just don't use my full name. I always think that I made a mistake and now you're mad at me. At least, that's how I hear that name nowadays. Pleased to meet you.”

The swan, dressed in fancy blue and white clothes, completely captured Nova's attention. She had a charismatic aura that wouldn't let her go unnoticed.

“Esmeralda is an aspiring model, even if you didn't know I'm sure you felt flattered somehow.”

The swan started to play with her hair, blushing. “I'm sorry. I-I just wanted to avoid that part. As much as I love my job sometimes it can be quite obstructing. My job and title goes before me and people never show me their true selves…”

“It's not your fault. You have a wonderful gift. You're beautiful and everything you wear looks perfect no matter what it is.”

Rosanne scowled at Natalie warning her not to comment any further.

“Alright guess I'll stay quiet. Can I leave like Mark did?”

“Mark left again?” The giraffe sighed, “I'd like to not write another note to him or his mother. Please, Ryuu, go look for him. You already introduced yourself to Nova so it won't be a problem for you.”

The wolf frowned, showing clear signs that he didn't want to agree to such request. “...If I really have to.”

He slowly stood up and headed out.

“Since my presentation is finished may I sit back down?” She went back to her seat after the teacher nodded in response.

“Next is you Natalie. Come on.”

“This is so lame…” She muttered, climbing the teacher's desk. “I'm Natalie, fifteen, crafter. There, I'm done.”

“It would be nice if you could be, you know, just a little more detailed.”

“It doesn't come out when I don't want to. I can't create anything when people force me to.”

“It's an introduction, Natalie. You're not making anything.”

“Everything I do is a creation. Me and my special knife create countless masterpieces: statuettes, accessories, tools and also weapons under some circumstances. I just need inspiration and a reason to do so.”

“That's better. See? It wasn't so hard.”

“You saw the Phoenix statue at the entrance? I did that. The first sketch was my idea, I carved it out of wood into a statue.”

“Okay Natalie, I'm sure your classmate knows enough of you. Please go back to your seat.”

“First you want me to talk and when I'm doing it you push me away. I'll never understand your logic.”

“So…the next one is-"

Rosanne tried to select another student but the ear breaking sound of a bell interrupted her and everyone stood up from their seats, except for Nova, overly confused on what was going on.

“I know that now it's break time but your new classmate wants to meet you all one-by-one!”

A female monkey stopped through the crowd that rushed outside. “But Prof, if we don't hurry the best food will be taken!”

“... Food?” The new student remarked.

“Basically the school prepares homemade sweets and snacks you can buy or take thanks to your level,” the simian quickly explained and ran off.

“I thought you were clear but now I'm more lost than before.” The levels thingy didn't make sense to him.

Rosanne sighed, gathering her papers, “I'm sorry Nova. Why don't you take a look around? I'm sure it'll be fine.”

“Y-Yes…” He reluctantly replied, “Have a good day!”

“Thanks. Remember to go back to the entrance hall, they're selling good stuff there.”

“Uh- sure!”

Nova looked around the empty class. He didn't know what to do. Ryuu left and hadn't returned yet. Should he take a look outside or just wait for him there? He toyed with his fingers as he waited a few minutes for his friend. The wolf must've been on his way, but he didn't show up.

Someone did though. Someone who didn't seem to like the new classmate.

“Waiting for your babysitter?” The cheetah scoffed as he walked inside.

“Ryuu’s not my babysitter. He's just telling me how the school works.”

“Sure, because you think everyone gets their personal assistant that follows the new guy around the school.”

“The headmistress asked him, probably. Is there a problem with that?”

He laughed, “You're that naive? Oh God… I'm sure you also think this school is amazing and everyone is friendly, right?”

The panda blushed, feeling like an open book. “Why? Are you going to tell me they aren't? It looks good to me.”

“They're using you, panda. You're something that has never happened before. They wanna take advantage of you and your value here.”

“That's ridiculous.” He wondered what he meant by value.

“Yeah because you think Ryuu is helping you out of the goodness of his heart, am I right? Because he's listening to a teacher's request? You're wrong. You're a tool.”

“I'm not following…”

“Of course you can't. Why do I even bother.”

Mark rolled his eyes, muttered something that Nova couldn't clearly hear and exited the classroom again.

“Is Ryuu hiding something from me?” The panda questioned out loud as he stood up.

Nova, filled with more questions than answers, headed back to the first floor, eager to know how his mother was doing.