Bonus Chapter 2: You Really Haven't Heard?

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Takes place during Chapter 10: A Garden Spat, after Leona and Ruggie exit.
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"....Ruggie."

The hyena beast-boy, strolling along beside Leona with his hands crossed behind his head, flicked an ear, looking sideways at him.
"Yes, Leona-san?" He asked innocently, that trademark grin of his curling the corners of his lips.

"What the hell was that back there?" Leona asked flatly. "Why'd you stop me from teachin' that herbivore a lesson?"

Ruggie sighed loudly.
"Ah-ahhh... So ya picked up on that, huh? Too bad... An' here I thought I was being pretty slick, too... Well, that's the dorm head for ya! Nothing slips past you... Well-- almost nothing."

He snickered under his breath, ears twitching in amusement.

Leona growled, low and deep, curling his upper lip to show a hint of fang.
"Ruggie," he rumbled again.
"Gimme a straight answer, or I swear I'm gonna rip off that ugly little tail of yours. What's the deal? Why'd you step in like that? Since when did you start sticking your neck out for weaklings?"

Ruggie shrugged, not seeming too concerned.
"I just thought maybe you might regret it later," he replied casually. "Wouldn't want anything clouding up that squeaky-clean conscience of yours, ya know?"

Leona growled again-- even deeper this time.
"Ruggie."

The shorter boy winced, looking guilty. "Alright, alright! Geez..."
He shot another sideways glance at Leona. "So-- you really haven't heard, huh? I mean, it's all anybody's been talkin' about for the last couple a' days..."

"What?"

"That that herbivore back there's a girl."

Leona blinked.
Then he came to a halt, ears flattening as he stared in shock at the hyena.

"A GIRL?!" He repeated, voice actually rising a few octaves.
"Are... Are you sure?!"

"Pretty sure," Ruggie replied, shrugging again. "Doesn't seem like she's trying to keep it a secret or anything... I mean, apparently she even said it herself during the ceremony, when the Headmaster brought her in an' was talking to you dorm heads." 

They stood in silence for a few seconds.

Ruggie tilted his head, leaning forward to get a better look at Leona's face.
"Leona-san? You good, man?"

"A girl," he muttered under his breath, staring blankly at nothing. "God..."

"Sheesh..."
Sucking in a breath through his teeth, Ruggie stepped back, shaking his head.
"Guess you really ARE shook up about this, huh... But-- more importantly, why weren't you payin' attention to what she was saying at the ceremony in the first place? Woulda' probably saved you a LOOOTTA trouble.."

"Shut UP, Ruggie," Leona snapped briefly.
Shaking his head, he put his fingertips to his temple, staring blankly at the ground.

A girl.
A WOMAN, actually-- they-- she...
Seemed to be a little older than the first and second-years. Eighteen, maybe? Or... Even the same age HE was?
She was human, so there was no way she was older than that...

Why was she here? HOW was she here?

...Well, okay, it wasn't like she was even SUPPOSED to be here in the first place. She was totally magicless... It was already weird enough that she got summoned just from that fact alone.

But she was still a woman...

...And he'd almost hit her.
He'd almost hit a woman.

......God, if his mother ever heard about this, he'd be dead.
Or his brother's wife-- well, okay, no, she wouldn't actually DO anything to him.
But she'd give him that-- that LOOK...
That regal, motherly, disappointed look that made anybody on the other end of it feel about five years old.

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