Crimson blood gushed down his face coating once clean fur. Nova’s eyes widened as fear, worry and anger rampaged his mind.

Nova understood the first moment he spotted them. It was a repulsive feeling that didn’t come close to the poorly made replicas seen in the movies. No matter how realistically they could replicate wounds, blood, and corpses, the real deal was absolutely vivid, another world.

“Oh my God…” He covered his mouth, shaking in fear. He didn't know what else to do, so he cried for help. He just wanted to save his friend.

“Somebody help them!”

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

The panda used the path both he and Ryuu had taken to return to the Headmistress’ office, maybe the wolf went there? Nevertheless, he needed to meet with his mother and Yvonne, there was another thing he must've mentioned to her.

“I'm coming in…” He said, twisting the knob.

Yvonne and Isabelle were still discussing the contract, his mother looked tired and somewhat worried.

“How's it going?” The panda asked.

“We're done.” She exhaled, as if holding her breath. “I wasn't ready for this at all.”

“So…we're leaving now?” Nova was bouncing back and forth between leaving or staying, but such opportunity wasn’t in his power.

“I am,” Isabelle remarked. “You're staying.”

“But I have nothing with me! What about pencils and notebooks? The school can't provide those too.”

“Just for today. I'm sure no one will complain. You can tell them that Yvonne is fine with it.”

“The school does, in fact, provide them,” the lioness chimed in. “In this school you'll receive everything you need, materials included.”

“Wait…so I don't need to bring anything with me?” Nova inquired.

“No, unless one of the professors ask you to complete an assignment. Normally we do everything in school hours. If you wish to study at home we have a very comfortable feature that Ryuu will surely explain to you later. Where is he?” The headmistress demanded, slightly irritated. “It's his job to be by your side until you feel accustomed to stay by yourself. I hope there is a valid reason for you being alone.”

“Well, uh, Mrs. Giraffe asked him to look for Mark so I was thinking let's go back to Mom until he shows up again.”

“I understand. Until he comes back I advise you to wait inside your classroom.” Her irritation vanished instantly upon hearing Mark's name. Was he imagining things?

“Mom?” The panda asked, tilting his body towards her. She was nervously tapping at her phone, almost smashing the fragile screen. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing. I was just checking something real quick.” Isabelle pressed the home button; whatever she was doing had her hurried to hide it.

“Were you messaging Dad?”

“Oh! Yeah! I wanted to tell him to come and get me but I'm sure he won't notice. Guess I'll walk there and get the car myself.”

Nova raised a brow. His mom easily fell in the trap the panda setup. This morning dad forgot his phone and she should've remembered. Isabelle didn't want to tell him the truth. “Alright then. I'll see you later.”

She nodded and hurriedly exited the room. Nova patiently waited until his mother was out of sight before speaking. “What was it?” He turned to Yvonne. “I'm sure you know—even if she didn't mention it—what's going on…”

“I'd rather not interfere in business not of my own. If she hid it from you there is a reason.”

“It’s related to me, so I’d like to know please!” Nova had some theories but mostly he was upset about them keeping it from him. He's not a clueless child that wouldn't understand! This school life was his and he deserved to know everything.

“My family is important and I can’t stand the thought of not being able to help them out. If there is something I can do I wish to know!”

Yvonne didn’t say anything but his reply piqued her interest.

Nova sighed, thinking that she wouldn’t budge. “There’s something else I need to show you.”

The panda picked up his phone, opened his messages and turned the screen towards her. “I’ve been talking to my friend about the school and everything that has happened so far. I still wanna talk to him but I signed the vow so I can’t. My friend, unlike me, can spread information.”

Her eyes widened. “Why didn't you tell me sooner?!”

“Sorry…” He scratched his cheek. The thought of meeting an entire class had overwhelmed him at the time. “I came back as soon as I remembered.”

“Give me their number.”

Though Nova had no idea what she wanted with it, asking wouldn’t result in a good answer.

“He obtained information that hasn't been released yet. I need to take utmost precaution to prevent any form of intel from leaking into the internet,” she said while the panda scribbled the number on paper. “I’ll let you know my decision later. For now, refrain from having further conversations about this matter.”

“I understand. I’ll go then…” He sighed, walking towards the door.

“It was about the level system,” she admitted as he twisted the knob. “Once you know what that is you’ll easily noticed what disturbed your mother.”

“Do you know about the rumors?” He replied, “On the internet there are rumors about this and two more schools working together under one big family. I don't know if it's true, but… you may want to know.”

Before exiting the room, Nova briefly glanced at the lioness before closing the door behind him. Her frozen expression caught him off guard.

She looked paralyzed, slightly trembling with her paw covering her mouth.

Was there more to it?

“NOVA!”

The panda jumped as he instantly turned around.

“ARE YOU TRYING TO GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK!?”

The black gorilla didn't listen and strangled him tight in his arms.

“REGGIE WANTED TO SEE YOU SO BAD!”

“...Ugh, can't...breathe—!"

“Oh no, Reggie sorry. Me really proud of you!” He stated in tears, finally releasing him. “Your speech so good; me touched.”

Everytime someone mentioned it, Nova flushed. “Thanks…I guess.”

“You're a sophomore, huh?” Reggie said, bumping his arm into Nova's. “Me thought you were a first year who went to complain about their audition.”

“Do I look younger?”

“Reggie's a freshman.”

Nova blinked, looking at his huge build. The gorilla was bigger in everything compared to him. “You're…a first year?”

He nodded with a grin. “Reggie did an audition and got selected. Me still learning but Reggie can help if you confused.”

Nova wanted to look for Ryuu, but couldn’t do it alone. He hadn’t made any friends yet from his classroom since they all ran off somewhere. The gorilla appeared at a good time; it felt like someone had sent him there.

“Actually, yes please! I still don't know the school and its secrets. I'd be glad if you could show me around.”

Reggie's eyes shined as he grabbed Nova’s arm, pulling him away. “LET'S GO!”

“WAIT WHA-!"

He practically threw the panda on his shoulder and rushed down the hallway, running over whoever stood in their way.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! CALM DOWN!”

Surprisingly for Nova all the students moved away when they passed through as if they were already used to this kind of behavior.

“WATCH OUT!” The panda shouted, noticing a brown-furred bear still standing in the way.

The grizzly took a deep breath and shouted, “REGGIE, STOP RIGHT NOW.”

The gorilla finally reacted and screeched to a stop right in front of the animal.

“L-Laila…” He whispered, scared.

“HOW MANY TIMES I GOTTA TELL YOU TO STOP DOING THIS.” The bear scolded, pointing at the primate threateningly.

Nova noticed just now from their voice that she was female, contradicting his earlier opinion based off her buff appearance. The braids really didn't help him.

“Reggie wanted to show the school to Nova…” He said, picking the panda from his back and placing him in front of her.

“You are-"

Laila stuttered and froze entirely, finger motions included as if she had come across an unexpected legend.

“Thank you so much for helping me out. He just wasn't listening.”

Nova took her paw and shook it vigorously making the bear even more uncomfortable than she was before.

“Sure, no problem.” Her face lit on fire.

The gorilla stepped up, toying with his fingers. “Reggie's in trouble now?”

“I'll turn a blind eye to it this time. It was clearly an emergency,” she laughed, trying to shake off the embarrassment. “If you need anything my class is nearby. We're both 2B freshmen.”

“Me confused. Why Laila so red?” He tilted his head, not understanding her unusual reaction.

“IT'S NOTHING! I JUST DID SOME WEIGHTLIFTING AND I'M TIRED OKAY? JEEZ, GET NOVA SOMETHING TO EAT INSTEAD!” She yelled, clenching her fists.

“Weightlifting?” The panda remarked, “No- wait, Reggie!”

The gorilla, thinking that now she was getting upset for real, grabbed Nova and ran deeper into the hallway.

“HURRY BEFORE LAILA GETS MAD AT REGGIE.”

“No, Reggie please, can't we walk? I don't want everyone's attention on me!”

The gorilla halted his run on the spot, making the panda bounce on him. “Wait, didn't you want something to eat?”

“WHEN DID I SAY THAT?! I ASKED YOU TO GUIDE ME AROUND, I'M NOT EVEN HUNGRY!”

“Oh, God… Reggie so sorry. Laila constantly eats, me assumed you the same. Bears like it but me was wrong?”

Nova facepalmed, trying to not blame him more. “Let's just walk towards this…food area or whatever it’s called. I'm in no hurry and have questions for you.”

“Okay, Reggie will do that.”

“Good, thank you.”

Nova felt like a magnet. Whoever crossed his path stared at him but turned away when the panda looked back. In this situation maybe riding the gorilla like a mount wasn't a bad idea after all.

“Reggie can you explain what the level system is? The headmistress mentioned it before,” he inquired, hoping that starting a conversation would distract him.

“Level system?” He blinked for a few moments until he understood. “OH, SHE MEAN THE CARD.”

Reggie dug inside his pockets and pulled out a black card. “This is, uh, level three!”

“I saw that already! Ryuu opened the main gate with it!”

“Card is must item to get into school. You can't ever forget it.”

“So that means I'll get one too?”

“Sure, Yvonne must be working on yours already.”

“Cool, but that's all? It opens the gate, okay, but why do you call it level three?”

“Cards go from level one to five. Each level gives you different bonus.”

Nova stared at him, waiting to hear which bonus he's referring to.

“Sorry, me doesn't remember. Reggie fell asleep during explanation.”

“Okay...let's try it this way then. Did you start on level one?”

“Oh no, they gave Reggie level three card directly after finishing Reggie's audition a few months ago.”

“I'm guessing they gave you the correspondent level based on your performance but I wonder if you can get an even higher level later on.”

“Reggie sorry. He should've listened…but me remembers that you can go higher.”

“It's alright, you’ve helped me enough! I'll ask Ryuu when I'll find him.”

“Reggie doesn't know where he is but me can tell you something you must do as new student. Ryuu could be there!”

At the end of the hallway there was a big door blocking the way. It didn't look like it would lead to a classroom. Maybe the courtyard?

Reggie pushed the door open and he caught a glance of tables and people eating inside.

“That's the cafeteria. It opens only at 2 PM but during break you can use it to sit and relax with friends.”

“Wait…if it's closed where is all this food coming from?”

Nova asked, pointing at all the students shoving piles of various kinds of sweets down their throats .

“From the courtyard! Come, come, Reggie will show you this awesome place.”

Once again, the gorilla dragged him where he wanted without waiting for his consent. Nova missed the peaceful moments with Ryuu.

“Oh…what's going on here?”

The surprise at the state of his classroom didn’t compare to his reaction to the courtyard.

Ignoring the fact that the majority of the school's students were gathered there creating a huge crowd that complicated any chance Nova had of spotting his friend, everyone was assaulting tables full of food trying to get their paws on them before the chefs ran out of stock. They weren't just eating: some of them were fighting, others playing, and so on. It seemed like everyone was doing whatever they pleased at the moment.

“Wait...are the chefs..?"

“Yes, students like you and me.”