We're Only Animals: Book 2 - Part 1: Building the Tower

Chapter 53 - Descending Each Level

Louis went down to the cells, finding one that seemed unoccupied and setting his outfit on the bed. He removed his shoes and pants, exchanging them for the black pants that were part of his outfit, along with the belt.

Next, he removed his shirt and exchanged it for the black vest that Hachi made. The top of the vest was a little like a turtleneck, which he found interesting. Both the vest and the pants fit surprisingly well.

There were two articles of clothing left, which made Louis blink. He grabbed them and realized they were long sleeves, which he pulled on both of his arms, finding that the bottom of the sleeves had 5 holes for him to put his fingers in.

Luckily, there was a mirror in the cell that he used to look at the whole outfit and found he actually quite enjoyed the design. He wondered what Legosi would think if he saw it.

The deer grabbed his satchel once more and then made his way out of his cell with the intent to find the mute Elk and thank them, but noise startled him as he walked by a cell and lo and behold, Hachi was sitting with their legs crossed on the bed, looking at him.

Louis stepped forward. "I'm guessing you knew I would come here to change?"

They nodded.

"May I come in?"

They shook their head.

Louis sighed. "Well, I just wanted to say thank you for the outfit. It looks very nice and I can tell you worked hard on it."

Hachi nodded, making a heart with their hands.

Louis smiled a bit. "I'm going to explore the tower and talk to the others."

Hachi nodded, closing their eyes and thinking about who knows what.

Before he left, Louis spotted a Katana with an ornate hilt leaned up against the wall. "So you use a katana as your weapon?"

Eyes open again, Hachi looked toward the blade sadly, and nodded.

Louis noticed this, but didn't push. "Are you good with it?"

Another nod.

"Maybe you can show me sometime?"

A shrug.

"I hope we can be friends."

Hachi shrugged again, then closed their eyes.

Louis exhaled, looking at the blade once more before going to the stairwell at the end of the room and descending.

He heard a clinking sound, followed by rolling, which led him into a room where Roku and Ni were, a large table in between them which had an assortment of colorful balls on them.

The goat turned his head immediately. "It's Shi."

The horse looked up too, clicking his tongue. "Weird. He almost looks like one of us with Hachi's clothes. Dunno why they even bothered."

Louis shook his head. "I'm a part of this team just like the rest of you. I get an outfit as well."

"You didn't sound like a member of the team the other day!" Roku fired.

Ni lined up his cue with the cue ball and took his turn, pocketing 2 striped balls at once, moving to take another turn. He pocketed no balls. "You're only part of this team because you're forced to be. You're not a true member, like us."

Louis came forward more, sitting on a couch nearby. "I'm still a part of the team, nonetheless. It would be better for everybody if we just...put that behind us."

Ni, having not told anyone he and Go personally threatened Louis, decided not to bring it up. "You were a complete brat to our leader. That action doesn't go unnoticed."