Music of the Night

Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Arthur gasped when he was collided with a sudden blow to the stomach. He really thought that he was going to die before he could comprehend the situation around him. His eyes, despite not being able to see was shedding tears out of fear.

"Free! Get off of him!" a gruff voice stopped the animal from pinning Arthur down.

"Aw come on, his face was priceless when I pounced on him!" he heard the other animal named Free pouted. "You should have seen your face, bat! Your eyes were wide like saucer plates."

"Thankfully I can't," said Arthur, his heart was still pounding from the adrenaline. The lion got off him before helping the Honduran white bat on his feet. Arthur dusted himself before giving the direction of the voice a small smile.

"See? The kid's fine!" Free laughed. "I can see why the boss talks about you sometimes. Come on in! Don worry, we're not going to eat you unless you make an attempt to escape."

Arthur could only follow with a confused expression on his face.

"It'll be okay," he heard Agata leaning close to whisper. "We only want your input on certain subject matters. You're a student, right? You should know how to handle this."

Arthur heard murmuring of what he assumed to be other members of the Shishigumi. He opened his mouth to use his clicks to estimate roughly on how many lions are around him. So far, he could only make out only eight.

Awkwardly, Arthur bowed slightly in greeting. "Um, hello again."

He heard some chuckling but the tone bore nothing close to malice. It sounded like amusements which made Arthur even more concern.

"After all that has happened to him and his friend," he heard one of them commented. "He still has the manners. You really are something, bat."

So, what the Shishigumi wanted from Arthur was to know about his old home before he moved to Cherryton. The reason for this is because they have been receiving letters and unknown emails from different gang members outside of their territory that does not relate to the turf wars they had about the Back Alley Market.

"Oh," Arthur suddenly realised. "I've been telling you about what gangs I've heard of back at my old hime, I don't know much about yours other than you do control the Black Market and had to fight turf wars. Could you please tell me about that?"

The Honduran white bat heard some purrs from the lions, he figured it was something they like to talk about. So, the lion he recognised named Dolph told him the history of the group along with its history. It inspired Arthur a bit to play a song that reminded him about it.

He was sitting on one of the sofas with the lions, his wings still wrapped around him in a protective embrace. He understood that some carnivores can't change their nature to eat meat if  it means for them so much.

But he felt conflicted because all his life, he always thought difference between carnivore and herbivore besides their diet would be nothing. He only felt them to be the same, just have a different taste in life.

"Lions are always pressured and sought after," he heard the growls from Dolph. "Even if we don't do our best in things, many animals look up to us because of our position and species."

"Oh!" Arthur's ears twitched. Some of the lions were a bit creeped out by his cloudy blue eyes. "Just like cobras. My old friend is a cobra and in school, they are pressured to take up certain subjects to make them into lawyers and doctors. But my friend wants to be a curator in a museum or at least visit ancient sites."

The lions were impressed by how well Arthur listened to them and even put in his own opinion on things despite being blind. 

Just then, the door opened and Arthur heard all of the lions standing up and the sound of shuffling were heard. He decided to stand as well as he heard the footsteps coming closer.

"Hello Arthur," the familiar voice greeted him.

"Hello Louis," Arthur greeted back. "You weren't joking about you being in charge. I have to admit it is a surprise."

"Hmph, I'm glad you acknowledge that," said Louis. "Anyways, I have some things to discuss with you so please, walk close to me or else you're going to get lost in this place. You don't want those gangling legs to trip or those hideous eyes to caught on something."

Arthur nodded and used his clicks to avoid bumping into anything. He was nervous because not only was he back in the place he and Bill got kidnapped, he was going to talk to Louis about something that he might not be able to comprehend.

With that, both of them entered a room, the door was locked and shut after them.

...

Haru was busy caring for the new flowers that have bloomed.

She was wondering if Arthur was okay because he hasn't replied to her messages. She figured he is either busy or attending something. She remembered him mentioning about going to town to get some groceries.

'Geez, just how full is his fridge and pantry?' the dwarf rabbit thought to herself. She shrugged it off, deciding to harvest some of the grown herbs she and Arthur had done together. She smiled to herself, thinking that it was a good idea to sell herbs besides flowers to restaurants and bakeries that needed them.

Once she was done, she was about to head back to her dorm as soon as possible. After all, she has had a bad reputation among most of the Cherryton students for having affairs with different males.

But that changed when Legosi leaped into her life.

She thought of calling him soon but a lot was on her mind right now. Just then, she collided with someone.

"Hey! Watch where you're- Oh, it's you," the haughty voice made Haru looked up with a confused expression on her face.

Mizuchi regarded her but she looked impatient and disinterested in bullying her. She has a wrapped package in her arms. Haru assumed it to be clothes since it looked crumpled and soft.

"Not going to torment me today or is your to-do list full today?" Haru retorted, her arms crossed. Mizuchi rolled her eyes.

"Look, I'm not going to bother you," Mizuchi answered sharply. "I just want to give this to Arthur."

'Arthur?' Haru thought to herself as she eyed the harlequin rabbit. 'Is she out of her mind?!'

"Strange," Haru scoffed. "I thought you would've tear his ears off if he's near you. But then again, you are acting weird lately ever since Arthur helped me from getting scratched by you."

"I know that but here," she thrusted the parcel into Haru's hands. "Just give it to him if you see him. Pretend that we never talked or meet right now."

Before Haru could say anything, the harlequin rabbit left her alone to wonder what the hell is going on. She sighed, holding the package close to her.

"Oh Arthur," she sighed. "What kind of bat charm have you done to her?"