Chapter 87

Mizuchi furrowed her eyes with worry as she read the text Arthur sent her. His messages were usually speech-to-text when it came to messaging her while hers to him were vice versa. Despite being in his final year, Arthur SOMEHOW managed to get himself into trouble that might cost him his life.

"I hope you be careful," she read the warning she texted for him before clicking 'send'. Her university life has been alright aside from the mountain of assignments and requests from her clients. Then again, she was glad that she was away from her parents though she missed her siblings. She decided to scroll through Roaragram and Amazoo, trying to pass the time before her next class.

She paused at a particular post, which was the last photo she took with Arthur before her graduation. Smiling a sad smile, Mizuchi kissed the photo where the Honduran white bat was.

"Hey Mizuchi!" her high school friend, Riley called as she sat next to the harlequin rabbit during lunch. Unlike Cherryton, university seemed to be lenient with carnivores and herbivores sitting together. Riley was still pristine as ever despite the bags under her eyes.

"Riley! I'm just glad you're here. Everyone's acting too nice if you ask me," Mizuchi greeted her friend with a hug. The black cat tilted her head in confusion. Then again, the feline was always ready to lend a paw or ear for her friends.

"Well, at least it's not high school. At least we're in a diverse campus than the segregation that's been going on in other schools," Riley pointed out, but then quickly said, "not that there's anything wrong with that! I'm sure you missed some things at Cherryton and maybe we could visit it someday."

The harlequin merely nodded, checking her phone for anything that Arthur may hinted at her. Ever since graduation, she had to be cautious when talking to Arthur without any prying ears from her parents or nosy siblings. Still, her instincts as a rabbit had always meant to be on her guard no matter where she went.

Just then, a figure sat in front of her, creating a shadow over her phone. She glanced up to be greeted by a forced smile of a puma. She figured he was from the animation or graphic designer course. Straightening herself up, her green eyes greeted dark brown-almost black ones.

"Hey, what do you want?"

The puma was very twitchy in his movement. She had a feeling this carnivore was experiencing withdrawal symptoms from eating meat. Mizuchi wrinkled her nose in disgust but tried her damn best to not show it.

"I-I heard that you're good at mending and commissioning clothes. I was wondering if you could make a dress?"

Mizuchi arched a brow, covering her mouth with her hand. "Um...I might need to take your measurement though. The cafeteria isn't a private place to-"

"N-no! Not for me!" the puma blurted out, his face slightly red. Both Mizuchi and Riley giggled at his reaction. She reached for something in her pocket, her ears still perked up to listen.

"I'm just messing with you," Mizuchi assured him, handing him something in his paws. It happened to be mint-flavoured chewing gum. He gave her a quizzical look. The harlequin rabbit gave him a sympathetic smile, gesturing to the strip candy in his paws.

"I'll help with the commission if you chew this gum. No offence but your breath stinks."

While the Panthera was bowing a thanks to her, her phone buzzed to a rather scary message from her boyfriend. It said:

Digging info about a crazy hybrid name Melon

Be on guard, Mizuchi!

I love you

Mizuchi placed her hand over her heart. She prayed that Arthur is safe but most importantly, alive enough for her to chew his ear off for venturing out into a dangerous world!

...

Arthur was sipping his cup of coffee that was freshly brewed by Deshico. He tried his best to not think about how it was made and why he could hear his carnivore friends breathing heavily. He himself was hanging upside down but keeping his distance from the vampire bats.

"It's delicious, isn't it?" the civet cat asked, hearing the curvature of his smile. His eighteen years of living had taught him how to detect whether someone was smiling or frowning. He tried his best to block most of the chittering chatters amongst the vampire bats.

"It's not tea but yes, it is rather nice," said Arthur, presenting his toothy grin to the direction of the voice below him. He could tell that Louis was probably thinking about something. He wanted nothing more than to get out of here so that he could go home to Cherryton, his family or even hear from Mizuchi again.

He covered his face with his wings to fix his face from making a grin that anyone except him could see. But a sharp tap from his back signalled him to unfurled his wings. Clearly, there must a reason for the palm civet to talk to him besides Louis about Melon.

"You are an interesting Chiroptera, Arthur," Deshico went on, hearing him walking across his desk. "Never in my years would I have heard of a bat that took part in the Day of Depravity as well as have the head of the Inarigumi settle down with your father! Not once have I have heard of a bat making so much fuss about in the news and be a music boy for that horrible hybrid. On top of that, you're blind."

Arthur's ears drooped, feeling firm fingers from below stroking his back. It was funny since the first time he had met with the red deer, he nearly broke two of his fingers on his wings. Now, that same hand was stroking his back to comfort him.

The Honduran white bat opened his mouth to check his surrounding. Whatever the carnivores were doing, he could hear them resisting the urge to retch out vomit or curse out something about finding beans in scat. He felt guilty to be singled out by the Kopi Luwak leader but it must be important if it meant getting close to exposing Melon.

"Now," the civet cat began. "I want to hear your side of the story about what you know about Melon, his interactions with you and in return, I will lend in on a secret. If you don't-"

"I understand," Arthur interrupted, nodding his head. He turned his head to the direction of the colony of vampire bats. "By Nocturna's heart you will hear a thing out of me. Just so you know, my blood is probably too infected for them to consume. Believe me, my own cousin forced me to drink that during that 'initiation'".

Arthur shuddered at the thought of an ugly memory fluttering into his ears. With that, he dropped down from the ceiling to land gracefully on the desk.

"Well, it all started at the train station..."

...

Deep in the heart of the Black Market, various groups were preparing for the next Day of Depravity. Last year, the four gangs had a fragile alliance where they would resolve peacefully with the blind bat and the former leader of the Shishigumi, who was a red deer.

But now, that alliance had been broken because of one common cause: Melon.

Seeing that monster could make any member of the four gangs tremble and they have heard of his treatment on the once prideful lions. For this night, Yafya was surveying the who view from above, a phone in his hand while another had a box.

He was spying on a particular hideout where he had a feeling that something had happened. Watching from above, the stallion's eyes fell at a scene below him.

Arthur's father was playing with his two hybrid daughters he had commingled with the head of the Inarigumi. All his life, he had never seen hybrids that are a perfect blend of a red fox and Honduran white bat. Wings and ears like their father while red fur with a face shaped like the mother.

All of the vixens were giggling and smiling at the two babies, which was a rare sight to behold.

Yafya sighed, wondering about something in the past. He read the message that was sent to his phone. It was cryptic but decipherable since it the messenger was none other than that blind bat. Something about gathering information about Melon and talking to another gang called the Kopi Luwak.

"How can a blind bat cause so much trouble?" he nickered to himself. When the father and twin hybrids went inside, he immediately dropped down the box at the doorstep. It was a little memento for 'borrowing' Arthur all this while.

The stallion immediately disappeared when he heard a very suggestive sound coming from the window of the hideout.