“Maybe a bit. I just hate when things happen behind my back. Come on, tell me what's going on! I don't wanna solve your damn riddle to know what I need to do! It feels like you wanted me to go away so you could sneak out!”

“I have no idea what are you talking about.”

“I know you don't just let me talk. It makes me feel better.”

“Oh, okay. If you say so.”

Nova stared at him, upset. “Okay, you know what?” He caught the glimpse of sarcasm in his answer. “Just tell me if there is something else I should do before I discover it too late!”

“Lemme think. Yvonne will give you the card. Ryuu will be your temporary teacher. Melody will provide you the official uniform. Melissa will give you the Jungle Madness app. Natalie will craft you the school badge. I think that's all you need.”

“So I need to meet these three huh?” He responded, scratching his chin. “The sooner the better I guess.”

“Right now, Natalie is wandering around somewhere probably fighting someone so leave it be. Ask her once we see her in class. Melissa is the 1C guardian and during break guardians gather in a room for their daily meeting. Maybe we can catch her later when break is almost over. Melody though should be free and waiting for you inside her little workshop.”

“What do you mean she's waiting for me?! I didn't know she existed until now!”

“It was part of Ryuu's job. He would've let you explore the school and then organize meetings with all of them during the day. I'm starting to get worried though. He wouldn't let you wander all alone like this…”

“Maybe something important came up?”

“I guess I'm overthinking this. He'll come back soon, probably.”

“Okay, tell me where this Melody is. Who knows? Maybe she has seen him somewhere.”

“Second floor, follow me!”

The husky raised his paw in excitement; he enjoyed the leader position.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Upset, Nova twitched his nose. They walked through an entire crowd of students that were glaring at him, moved through two floors of stairs making him breathless, yet Melody’s workshop wasn't even close to the entrance. It was positioned at the end next to the stairs for the third floor. He saw a lot of empty classrooms and unused space. He shivered thinking about how many floors this school had. Just the thought of his class being on the top floor crushed him.

“We're here!” Arthur shouted, stopping in front of the same looking door every other past class had.

“You alright? You look weird.”

“Ah don't worry. It's my soul. I lost it on the way here.”

“What?”

“Nothing, just knock…”

The husky extended his paw and gently hit the door a few times.

“I'm free, I'm free! Come on in!” A feminine voice yelled from the other side.

Arthur pushed the door and walked inside followed by Nova.

The panda took a look around. The place didn't resemble a small workshop at all. He felt like he had entered a clothing shop, and a fancy one at that. The walls were decorated with every kind of clothes hanging from them. From the most casual attire to the most elegant; the place showcased them all.

Nova wasn't really an expert, but judging by the tools and machines scattered around the table they must've been high quality.

He touched the closest dress next to him with his paw. The level of detail surprised him with how soft and well kept it was no matter its location.

Arthur waved his paw at him, signaling the panda to come closer. He was standing in front of the biggest desk placed in the furthest end of the room. A newspaper he thought stood perfectly still on top amazed him until he realized someone behind the paper was holding it.

“Hello! Finally you're here! I've been waiting for-"

The small meerkat moved the newspaper out of the way and stopped half way, her sentence dying when she didn't see Ryuu but Arthur.

“What are you doing here? Where's the other one? I mean there is still a canine in front of me but, you know, I was waiting for the dark and threatening wolf, not a bright and cheesy dog.”

The small meerkat wore a bright hoodie that seemed sewed together connecting pieces that didn't belong to each other. Her jeans instead were green and ripped everywhere.

“Ryuu kind of…disappeared since the beginning of the break hour.”

“But that's when we met each other!”

Nova walked past the dog and approached the meerkat. “You did?!”

“Yeah! I had to work on some commissions so I'm allowed to get to the courtyard before break hour starts to have some food and that's when I met him.”

“Was he alone? What was he doing?”

“Actually…I'm not sure, but it looked like he was doing some shady shit. If I weren't so busy I would've loved to investigate more but I was running out of time. I grabbed today's school journal and left.”

“Who? Ryuu?” Arthur chimed in, skeptical, “I don't buy it. It's true that with his face everything looks dangerous but he's not a bad guy.”

“Hey, don't put words in my mouth. He was acting weird, even for his standards. That's all.”

The room went quiet. Arthur placed his paw on his chin, trying to find a reason behind what she witnessed. Melody started cleaning her desk, making some space around where she closed the newspaper. Nova spotted his own face on the first page. It was a photo of him someone took yesterday.

“What is that?! Gimme!” He snatched the journal out of her paws and read.

“No need to be so aggressive dude…” She complained while the panda focused on reading the article.

‘Yesterday an outsider successfully defeated Mrs. Dianne, head leader of the creativity division, in a Jungle Madness, obtaining the honor to join our ranks. Such an unforgettable and memorable event will be part of Wonder Phoenix history. Whoever didn't show up has to get their paws on the official recording the school compiled. Juicy information that everyone should know!’

“IT HAS BEEN RECORDED?! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!”

“Every Jungle Madness classified as high will be recorded.” Melody shrugged off casually. “But I feel ya. That speech would embarrass the hell out of me too. That is, like, private stuff dude.”

Melody then pointed at another section in the next page. “I think there’s another thing you should know. I discovered it just now.”

Her serious expression alarmed him to hurry and read the next section.

‘Crocodile tears; the real face hidden behind a good smile. We learned from an anonymous source that those two pandas actually blackmailed our beloved teacher. The old panda and the peacock have been talking to each other alone thanks to his son’s acting. He pretended to faint in order to lure the students’ attention away from the criminal mind of his father. He forced the peacock into his evil schemes in order to conquer our hearts and organize the perfect plan to get his son inside. What a twist… The outsider is none other than a trap perfectly set and we all fell prey to it. Everyone please beware.’

The article kept going but Nova didn't feel like reading any further. The newspaper slipped through his paws and fell on the floor as he shivered. “What the fuck is this..?”

Arthur took the journal from the floor and started to read, curious to know what caused such a reaction.

“You tell me. Is this true?” Melody questioned, tilting her head.

“OF COURSE IT'S NOT! DO YOU REALLY THINK I FAKED EVERYTHING?!”

“It seems too elaborate to look like a plan devised beforehand.” she admitted. “But this shit can affect your reputation.”

Nova was going to ask her how many people read it and if he could've stopped this but he knew everything already.

“Who wrote this?”

“William for sure. He’s the school's journalist.”

“Where can I find him? I-I need to talk to him about these things.”

“That's going to be a little hard.”

“I don't care! Just tell me!”

“That little bat is always going after scoops and news to write in his newspapers. He is never in the same place because he follows interesting people, shares info under payment, and, during break hour, he’s, like, impossible to find.”

Nova, while she explained, started to pace in circles. “Fuck…my dad is not what that shitty paper says! He's a good man! I admit he can be a little clumsy and he's a little blind to others’ feelings, but my dad is really caring and a sweet person. I hate this so much! I don't want people to think bad of him or me.”

“Relax big guy. Wait outside his class once break hour ends and talk to him.”

The panda slumped to the ground, defeated. Everything he had bottled in his head started to erupt as Nova expressed his anxiety in a hysterical fashion no one was able to follow. “The entire school now thinks I'm a fake, a liar! That I just…put on a facade! I-I don't wanna stay here. I gotta leave. My family can't even sustain me! Why should I bother everyone now? Might as well leave right away!”

“Hey, hey, hey…calm down buddy. Everything's gonna be fine. You hear me?”

Arthur knelt down, resting a hand on his shoulder.

“We won't let you suffer like this for no reason. If they fucked you up we’ll fix you. You know this is a lie. We just need to crack it down.”

“Crack it down?! As if they would believe me now!”

“Not your words. Other people saw you. Not everyone thinks this is a lie. Do you think Fan would believe it? She's the one who knocked you down. What about Esmeralda? She looked after you while you were unconscious. Do you think she wouldn't notice you faking it?”

“They could think that my classmates are covering for me!”

“You can request the recordings of your Jungle Madness and use them to support yourself. There is nothing stronger than proof, am I right?” The meerkat stated, jumping off her desk. “So take a deep breath and scream.”

Nova stared at her, puzzled.

“What? That's the best way to cope when something unfair happens. You hold your breath and YOU SCREAM AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS UNTIL ALL YOUR FRUSTRATIONS FADE AWAY!”

Exhausted, she relented to rest on her own knees. “That mixed feeling of satisfaction and tiredness makes your anger go away.”

“I already feel tired, like, drained. I'd like to lay on bed and just stay there all day…”

“Melody will cheer you up with the only thing she can do!” She smiled, running towards a closet next to the desk.

“I think Nova appreciates the effort but I don't believe clothes can help him out right now. He's not a girl you know-”

Arthur, amazed by what he sees, froze.

“Wow… What is that?”

“This, my dear doggy, is the new official school uniform that completely destroys the old fashioned style with a brand new look I created myself.”

She proudly showed two versions of the same outfit with different color palettes.

“I have prepared two versions out of three and I wasn't going to show them but I saw the situation and thought why not?”

“Those are so freaking cool. I want the black one.” The husky drooled, wagging his tail.

“Hey, these aren’t free. The school authorized them to be uniforms but I'm not forced to make a free uniform to all the students who already have one. You want the new model? You buy it.”

“Ah…fuck. I don't have money with me right now. How much?”

“70 dollars.”

“SERIOUSLY?! AND YOU'RE GONNA GIVE ONE TO HIM FOR FREE?!”

“No, not one. I'll give him all three models... If only I had the last one…” She muttered, “I was working on the last one but my artist struggles wouldn’t allow me to decide on a brighter color palette.”

“Why him?! Give them to me!”

“I didn't chose him because I wanted to gift my work, sweat, and blood to the first guy I crossed on the street! This guy right now is famous! Ignoring the issue at hand that he can fix later, he will give my uniform the attention it deserves.” Her eyes shined as she collected her tiny hands one against the other. “Everyone will buy a uniform from me.”

Nova slowly looked up and glanced over the uniforms. He did like them but the panda wasn't really feeling it.