The Hybrid Dokugumi

"I'll pretend I did not hear that. Anyway, anything else you wanna share?"

Legosi looked surprised at his composure, the same implying to Savon, who, despite still looking a bit surprised, mostly was calm, which encouraged him to continue.

"Well, during their practise, Louis fractured his leg, and although he played through the first part of the play, he couldn't continue anymore, since he made it even worse, he appointed Bill, a bengal tiger as his replacement. But because of that, there was no one to play the antagonist, and, well, they chose me."

This prompted Gosha to chuckle, but Savon simply raised an eyebrow.

"So? What's so bad about being an actor for once."

"Nothing much, really. I just don't like the spotlight. That wasn't the problem though. Right before the start of our performance, I smelled something weird on Bill. Turns out, he wanted to dope himself on rabbit blood."

Legosi shuddered in disgust.

That left the two adults speechless. Gosha's face adopted a disgusted look, same for Savon. "Seriously, what kind of kid is this Bill?"

"Yeah, well, I was mad too, so I decided to challenge him to settle it on the stage, during the fighting scene."

Savon and Gosha looked surprised that Legosi, despite being so kind and timid, did something like that.

"Kind of dumb, yeah, I know. But I was too mad to think back then. In the end, Louis had to interfere, to make sure we didn't kill each other, and make it seem like it was all part of the play...And, I guess that's it for now."

"...Dear Rex kid, are you sure you're in a school?"

"Yeah Legosi, have to agree with Savon. Are you safe there?"

"Yeah i am, grandpa. At least for now everything's okay. I'll definitely call if something does happen."

Suddenly, Savon took out his phone, and extended a hand to Legosi's one in a silent request. Legosi wasn't sure what Savon needed from it, but gave his phone nonetheless.

Savon typed something in, and gave it back to Legosi, putting his own back into the satchel he had on himself. Legosi looked at the screen, and saw that it was Savon's number.

"If you need help kid, and Gosha can't provide it, then ring me."

Legosi simply nodded. But suddenly, a boisterous and angry voice replaced the silence of the whole place.

"Oi, what is a pair of toxic lizards doing here, sitting on a good table?!"

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"Oi, what is a pair of toxic lizards doing here, sitting on a good table?!" The trio turned to the source of these words, and saw a group of birds.

"It's a full house, you damn reptiles. You ought to get out of here now, before you turn this place into a gas chamber."

Gosha immediately panicked a bit.

"Let's move out of here, Legosi, Savon! Hey, Legosi-"

Savon only blocked him with his hand and shook his head.

'This is ought to be interesting.'

"What? I don't think I heard you right."

Legosi stood up straightened to full height, and looked down on the hooligans menacingly, all while growling.

"Because to me, it sounds like you think that komodo dragons emit poisonous gas."

The leader was a little unnerved, but didn't back down.

"What? Don't get smart with me, you little pup!"

The guy puffed up his chest, trying to make himself bigger, the rest of the birds doing the same.

"You wanna fight?!" Legosi simply stood calm. "Sure, why not?"

At those words, Savon smiled, while Gosha looked shocked. 'L-Legosi!?'

Suddenly, a huge crocodile in chief's attire walked up to them.

"Excuse me. We've got other customers in this cafe, you see...You're going to have to wait in line, okay?"

The leader scoffed and started walking away. "What a shitty cafe."

He looked over to the trio.

"You're lucky the owner's a reptile."

Then turned back and walked out of the cafe. Legosi looked over at Savon and Gosha, who had been lookin at him the entire time. Savon simply looked proud, while Gosha had disappointment written all over his face.

"Legosi...you..."

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"I'm so disappointed in you! You really have turned delinquent! You acted like a thug like there!"

"Gosha, please calm down, the kid did nothing wrong."

"Yeah Grandpa, come on! Did you really expect me to let them talk you down like that?! I'm 17 already, I refuse to be a spectator like how I was when I was a little kid!"

Gosha stopped walking, and turned over to Legosi.

"You're still a little kid, don't be presumptuous...I suffered discrimination for 54 years, I'm used to it! You just have to let it slide, did you learn nothing about pacifism!?"

"That's the goddamn problem, grandpa, you shouldn't have to!!!"

Savon shook their shoulders a bit. "We've got company, you two."

The trio looked around them, they were in an back alley, surrounded by that group of birds from the cafe. The leader took a step forward.

"You really made asses of us, so now, that you're in this dead end and all, you know what's going to happen to you, right?"

The leader drew his fist and almost threw it at Legosi, before suddenly, Gosha is right in front of him.

"Don't touch my grandson!"

His own fists made contact with the bird, making him skidding across the ground.

"You're lucky i won't do worse, with feathers as soft as yours. So, like I was saying Legosi."

"You're still a little kid, but you at least have some maturity in you, so I'll start teaching you in more detail-"

Gosha grabbed one of the thugs, who trien to sneak him from behind. "-My snobbish policy actually has a second side to it."

He lifted the said thug above the ground.

"Pacifism is a fine thing, however, it only has meaning, if it is the strong people, that uphold it!"

'Grandpa, I've never seen you like this before, but right now, I feel like I'm seeing you once again.'

"Grandpa, what are you?"

"I'll tell you later Legosi, let's deal with these guys first, you can help me if you want to. Same to you, Savon."

But before any of them could step in, Gosha threw the guy he was holding, and lunged at another one, injuring him with his claws, like he did with the leader. Then, he hit another one with his tail, while he was trying to sneak up on him. Legosi simply looked in awe, while Savon was glowing with pride.

'This was such a hassle of a question to ask, but...which one is the REAL Gosha? The one, that is my overly kind and unprovocative grandpa, or the strong, aggressive fighter in front of me? Or is it BOTH?'

Gosha panted turning back to Legosi and Savon. "You two are not hurt anywhere?"

"No, I'm fine grandpa/I am fine Gosha, they didn't even attack us."

"What about you grandpa? Are you okay?"

Gosha was so engrossed in the conversation, that he didn't notice another thug sneaking up behind him.

"Don't worry this is not my blood-"

Suddenly Legosi lunged and grabbed the thug by his neck. Gosha looked over with surprise, while Savon simply smirked.

"You're going to finish him, Legosi?"

Legosi simply looked back at the thug, before letting go and kicking him with all his might, sending the guy flying. The bird got up and ran away.

"Damnit, these guys are crazy!"

Legosi looked around at the bodies of the birds. "I hope they'll be okay."

Gosha smiled, all while picking up his cardigan sweater and putting it back on himself. "Well, i did smack them around a bit, but they'll wake up in few hours, give or take."

'Aaand he's back to the 'grandpa' mode, that cardigan sweater doesn't look good on him anymore though.'

"By the way grandpa, you better wipe away those stains on your face, you can't go out looking like that in public."

"Oh. Better find a place with water then!"

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After finding a place to wash off blood, the trio went back to the Dokugumi compound.

There were no more curious looks sent towards Legosi, everyone looked at him with either welcoming, or doubtful gazes.

'Seems like news spread fast here.'

When they finally stopped, a big building was in front of them.

'The main headquarters, if I heard Caesar right yesterday. But what are we doing here?'

Savon turned over to them.

"Okay you two, while we were walking back to the compound, I was informed that the elder members of Dokugumi demanded you two to be present at Lunch."

'Lunch, what's so serious about it?'

While Legosi was looking confused, Gosha tensed. Savon meanwhile turned his gaze to Legosi.

"I don't know what they want from you. But Legosi, while we are there, you don't utter a single word, and stay as calm as physically possible. It's considered bad behaviour for a komodo dragon, even if they are one only by a quarter, to be expressive during such formal meetings."

Legosi tensed immediately. Savon, noticing that, layed a hand on his shoulder and gave a firm squeeze.

The trio walked in the building, after a few minutes, and waiting Savon to change back in his normal clothes, they walked into a spacious room, with a big traditional rectangular table in the middle, at which sat 6 different komodo dragons. Legosi took the time to study them. All of them looked a bit younger than Gosha is.

'My best guess, they're in their early/late forties, give or take.'

All of the komodo dragons gave an almost imperceptible nod to Savon, which he reciprocated. Then he gestured Legosi and Gosha to their sits. As Legosi sat down, he found himself sandwiched between two of the elders, his grandpa right across the table. For a moment, they all traced their gazes towards Legosi, which made him tense up. Thankfully, they didn't remain fixated on him for more than a few seconds, and redirected their focus on Savon, who looked down at the food, and finally took the first bite. After that, as if by impulse, everyone else started eating, which prompted Legosi to do so too. As soon as he took ate the first piece, he felt his mouth being assaulted by an even stronger flavor than the first time. It took him all his willpower to not make any sounds, but he, thankfully, stayed silent, and only now noticed the accessing stares of the other komodo dragons, and even Savon regarded him with curiosity, while Gosha looked very tense.

'They are trying to see if I will break under the pressure. News flash, I'm just fine.'

Finally, their attention drew back to their food, and the lunch proceeded without any accidents.

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30 minutes later, everyone were done, and now were making small talk. At the same time, Legosi was thinking about the events that took place from yesterday to the current hour.

Suddenly Savon stood up, and everyone else followed his lead, which prompted Legosi to do the same.

'Probably because we're done with the lunch.'

"Gochisousama deshita!"

Savon's sudden exclamation startled Legosi out of his thoughts, and then he noticed that everyone opened their mouths to reciprocate his words, and he hurried to do it with them.

"GOCHISOUSAMA DESHITA!"

After that, everyone started leaving the room, and after a few minutes later, Legosi, Savon, and Gosha were all alone in the room. Savon gave Legosi an approving look.

"Good job kid. Everything went as I wanted it to. One thing I'm sure of, is that they don't dislike you. Also, now that we are done, you should probably go back to the academy. I'm sure people are worried sick."

Legosi's eyes went as wide as saucers. He completely forgot about it. Savon simply laughed at him.

"Come on kid, let's take you home."

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After taking all of his belongings from the guest apartment, Savon and Gosha have gone with to a car, standing in a garage. The driver brought them to the gates of Cherryton, and after saying their goodbyes, Legosi walked into the academy.

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"Where the hell were you, Legosi!?" "I'd like to know that too."

Legosi stood in front of Louis and Bill, who looked equally, annoyed and, surprisingly, worried. All of the Drama Club were just watching. Louis spoke up again.

"Well? I don't have all day."

"After splitting up with everyone, I was lucky enough to find an exit. But, well, it wasn't the one we walked into, it lead to another block. The good thing is, that a good friend of mine was leaving there, so I decided to stay with them for the time being, and, well, we haven't seen each other for quite a long time, cause of Cherryton being a boarding school, so I decided to take the chance to catch up."

Bill seemed content with that explanation, so he simply nodded and left to do his thing, so did the most of the Drama Club members. Louis on the other hand, still was searching Legosi's face for something, before sighing and gesturing someone. A wolf came up to them, a girl, to be exact.

"This is Juno. She is the new member of our club, so please treat her with welcoming. She already introduced herself to everyone, except you. Now, I've said everything I wanted to, so I must go back to my business."

Louis walked away, living the two wolves in the room, alone, with the exception of a few other members still working on something of their own. Juno cleared her throat.

"So, as Louis-sempai said, I am Juno. What is your name?"

'She totally knows it. The look in her eyes says it all. Okay, I'll play along, for now.' "Legosi."

The girl gave him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, that he, no matter how innocent and pretty they looked, didn't like.

"So tight lipped. I hoped we could get to know each other better." Legosi absolutely DID NOT like her. Not with that suggestive tone.

"S-Sorry, I've got things to do, gotta talk with the others, with me disappearing for almost a day, that is. I don't really have time, sorry, bye!"

Legosi immediately turned away, and swiftly walked out of the club, not even listening to Juno calling him.

'What is wrong with that girl!? Aren't you supposed to, i don't know, talk about such things...Wait, didn't she say that she wanted to get to know me better? No, no, she definitely did not mean what I have in mind. Plus, I only love Haru-chan anyway.'

Legosi stopped in his tracks.

'Wait, do I really love her? Or is it the predator in me speaking?' Legosi sat down on a bench and cupped his head in hands.

'Is it really love, or do I wish to eat her so badly, that it turned into an obsession, that I mistook for love?'

"Legosi?"

The wolf in question looked up, and in front of him stood Jack. "Jack?"

"Where were you!? I was so worried!"

"Uhm, Jack, how about we discuss it in our dorm? I don't really wanna talk here, in public." Jack just fondly shook his head.

"Sure thing. Now that I think about it, everyone were worried, so yeah, a reasonable request. C'mon!"

Jack started walking in the direction of the dormitories, and Legosi was right behind him.

After a few minutes of walking, they were standing in front of the door to room 701. Legosi opened it, and was assaulted by what effectively was a dog pile. The four dogs started firing a question after a question. Legosi desperately looked at Jack, silently asking for help, which Jack provided.

"Alright, alright everyone, calm down. Let Legosi go for now, let him explain what happened."

'For now? Are you serious Jack?'

After that, Legosi gave them the same excuse he made up for the drama club, patiently answering any questions, the resident canines had for him. Suddenly, Collot spoke up.

"Anyway, we are glad to have you back, Legosi. Now...EVERYONE, DOGPILE ATTACK!!!"

'Wait, what did he just-'

Before Legosi could utter a word, everyone, even Jack, jumped on him, starting a roughhousing match, that happened quite a few times, although Legosi never joined those.

Right now though, he couldn't bring himself to care, as he had the innate urge to join in, like he always have, although this time, he decided to indulge.

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About 10 minutes later everyone were laying around the room, panting and laughing. Even Legosi, known for being pretty inexpressive, was chuckling, which surprised all of the dogs in the room. Durham decided to voice what everyone had on their mind.

"Didn't know you could smile, let alone laugh, Legosi."

Legosi quieted down immediately, which made everyone groan in disappointment. "You just had to ruin everything, Durham."

"Shut up, Miguno! I wasn't the only one who wanted to say that, and you know it!"

"Yeah, yeah.On a more serious note though, Legosi, you should do more of that, smiling and laughing, I mean."

This prompted Legosi to smirk, with fangs, which made everyone do a 'Le gasp'. "Yeah, well, I'd prefer to keep my mysterious aura safe, y'know?"

Everyone sat up.

"...Who are you, and what you did with our Legosi?!"

After a few seconds of silence, everyone burst out in laughter, except Legosi, who this time only smiled.

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On the next day, Legosi came earlier than most, so there was almost no one in the practice room.

'I came here too early.'

He looked down on the projectors, took a rag, and sat down on the floor.

'I should just polish the equipment...Huh?' Legosi looked in a mirror.

'Am I getting taller?'

He groaned with exasperation, and layed down.

'I wish I'd stop growing...Great, my nails are elongating again.'

Suddenly, another pair of arms appeared in his vision. He looked to the left, and saw Juno laying there.

"Is this some kind of a good luck ritual to energize yourself, or something?"

'Or something...WAIT WHAT THE HELL!?'

Legosi immediately rolled away. 'How did I not notice her get here?!'

"Juno-san!W-w-w-when did you get here!?"

Juno sat up on her knees, and her face adopted a sheepish look.

"Just now. I'm sorry for scaring you...You're pretty early, Legosi-Senpai." "Well, I'm usually never busy."

'Okay, I'm going to talk to her, and then when a good moment comes up, excuse myself.' Legosi inwardly sighed.

'Although, I guess she's very beatiful, so maybe it'll be somewhat okay.' "So, what team you're in, Juno-san?"

"I'm in actor team, Legosi-Senpai."

"And how's it going for you? Having any fun?" "Actually, it's been kind of difficult lately." Legosi raised an eyebrow.

"How so?"

Juno looked genuinely sad for a few moments. 'Sheesh, now I kinda feel like I'm being rude to her.'

"Well, due to the recent devourings, people's been...hard on me." Legosi winced.

'Yeah, kinda understand you there, Juno-san.' "Must be rough, hope everything will be fine." Juno brightened a little.

"Thank you, Legosi-Senpai...You know, the actor team is supposed to dance in light along with the dance team. After my audition, I was assigned a role, but I was the only one who wasn't told about it."

'Sabotage? Strange...I thought everyone in the club got along, or at least, are tolerant to each other. Even me and Bill, although the relationship between us is pretty loose, we tolerate each other just fine.'

"It doesn't help that the female members are avoiding me for some reason. But I've gone off track. So, my role is supposed to be a carnivorous tyrannosaurus..."

"I was later told, 'I bet you can pull this role off just fine'."

'Well, that's just plain insulting. No one should offend a female like that, no matter what species.'

"...But you know, while that may have been an idea of theirs to tease me, I decided that need to dance beautifully, no matter what role I'm offered, so I came here early to practice."

Legosi couldn't help but be impressed by her determination. 'Maybe I misjudged her back then.'

"You know, I could help you. I am in charge of the lights after all. And the year before that, perhaps I can offer you some advice.''

Suddenly, Juno's eyes lit up, and she jumped right next to him. "I want you to watch me dance! Now!''

"What? Right now?"

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A few minutes later, Juno was dancing, and Legosi was giving the rhythm.