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Chapter Fourteen

Light clinks of silverware against bowls in the kitchen were accompanied by the faint sound of the television wafting in through the doorway. Kaipo was settled into his chair, a red shirt with a white stripe set from across the left shoulder down to the bottom of the shirt fitted snug onto his toned, slender chest, with a pair of light blue denim shorts fitting his body snugly, a pair of sneakers fit onto his hind paws. Lifting up a few spoonfuls of cereal dripping with milk, his ears perked as Phoebe spoke from across the table "Ready for the dance tonight?"

"Yep. Got my suit all ready up in my room."

"So you'll be leaving right after you get home from track, right?"

"Yep." The lion took another bite, pausing and glancing to his Mother "Are you gonna come and watch me tonight?"

"I'll try to. My meeting might run long though." Phoebe slid back her chair, picking her bowl up before setting it into the sink, switching the faucet on.

"Oh, that's alright if you can't Mom, I understand n' all..." Taking another bite, Kaipo looked down into his bowl, scooping up the rest of his breakfast before lifting up the bowl to drink the remaining milk. Phoebe's ear perked, catching that tone and turning a warm smile to the lion "Don't worry Kaipo, I'll be there. Your event is near the end, right?"

Kaipo perked up, a little smile appearing on his muzzle while he nodded quickly "Yep, my race should be near the end of it."

"Then I'm certain I'll be able to catch it." Phoebe set her paw onto the lion's head, ruffling his short amber locks, getting a soft giggle as Kaipo batted at her paw "Thanks Mom."

Conversations filled the cafeteria, the student body gathered at their respective tables with both lunch trays, lunch boxes and brown paper bags settled in front of them. Banters were broken only by the occasional bites of food and, more often, by laughter. A table near the room's front seated a few couples, a panda with a pink bunny seated in her lap, both Ami and Lilly taking turns feeding each other, a skunk settled on one side of them and an equine seated on the other. Kaipo and Robert sat across from the pair, Justin seated beside the lion, Valentine sitting next to the husky, with a Dalmatian next to him.

"Alright, everyone knows I'm picking you up tonight, right?" Hina crumpled up her lunch bag between her paws, setting it onto the tabletop before her as she looked among the group.

"But you haven't got a car, Hina." Ami spoke up as Lilly lifted an apple in one of her paws, the rabbit taking a bit from it, chewing as the panda nodded "My little bunny is right. Besides, how would you fit all of us in one car?"

The skunkette giggled softly from behind a little smirk "You'll find out when I get there. Rob, Kai, Matt, am I picking you three up from here?"

"Mom's takin' me home after Robbie's match, so pick me up at my house." Kaipo squeezed the husky's paw, lifting a warm smile to meet the husky's own, Robert giving a nod "Matt's taking me home after the matches as well, so we'll be at our houses too." The equine looked over the bunny and panda couple, nodding as Robert spoke, his response getting a nod in return from Hina.

"Alright, everything's set then. Everybody got their outfits?" Each fur nodded to the question, drawing a soft giggle from Hina "Good. What time should I pick you guys up?"

"My little bunny and I should be ready at six." Lilly offered a carrot to Ami's lips, the touch gaining a bit of red in the bunny's cheeks while she nodded in agreement.

"Six sounds good for me." Justin nodded as well, taking a bite from his sandwich as Val spoke up "Six is fine for me."

"Six is good for me too." T.K. added right after the badger.

"How about you three?" Hina glanced between the husky, the horse and the lion "Will you guys be home and ready by six?"

"We should be readah." Matt nodded, the equine looking past the couple settled between himself and the skunkette once again, Robert nodding with him "Yeah, we'll be home by six."

"And my event finished before Robbie and Matt's, so I will be too." Kaipo nodded as well, squeezing the husky's paw gently as the couple shared a glance.

"Alright, then we're all set."

A shot sounded as one of the races began, a group of four furs sprinting off down the straightaway of the track as the crowd cheered on the runners. Kaipo sat quietly in the bleachers, T.K. settled beside him, the white and black of the Dalmatian's fur faintly matted by a light sweat, his tank top clinging lightly to his form. Kaipo glanced among the crowd, wearing a faint frown as the time of his event approached, mumbling softly "Come on Mom..."

"Relax Kai, I'm sure she'll be here. She said she would, right?"

"Yeah, she said her meeting might run long though..."

"Well," T.K. patted the lion's shoulder softly with a paw before giving a mild squeeze "Better get ready for your race. Don't worry," He leaned over, his muzzle drawing close to Kaipo's, wearing a warming smile "She'll be here."

"Yeah..." Kaipo mumbled lightly, climbing to his hind paws from the bench, inching his way out among the furs seated there to climb down from the bleachers to the track. Pacing back and forth a few feet, the lion's only notice of the next starting race was a twitch of his ears with the sound of the starting shot and a momentary glance out towards the furs on the track.

"Kaipo!"

Glancing up, the lion found a little lioness hugging him through the railings of the bleachers, gaining a warm smile and reaching up, hugging Susan firmly in return, glancing up to the lioness still outfitted in a crimson suit smiling down to him "Well hello there cutie. Could you tell me if my son has run his race yet?"

"Mooooom!" Kaipo smirked as he released his sister, giggling lightly "My race is the next one."

"Well, you had better get ready then."

Kaipo stretched out into his ready position, one leg bent, knee nearly touching the ground as the other stretched behind him, his sneakers set against the base on the track, his paws arched slightly, fingers set apart as his tail swished back and forth above him. His muscles tensed, glancing across the starting line to his opposition before his ears perked, the starting shot firing off. His paws pulled at the ground, thrusting off from the starting base into a sprint.

Each paw step on the track jolted him slightly, his paws clenching tight, his form gradually lowering down, drawing close to running along all paws as he rounded the track's end, chancing a glance to his side. A burnt-red furred fox was keeping up with the lion, almost easily it seemed to him, catching Kaipo thoroughly off-guard.

Kaipo surged on, strengthening his pace, gritting his teeth firmly while he charged forwards, but the vulpine's speed only grew, slowly overtaking Kaipo as the finish point closed in, the lion narrowly coming in moments after the fox passed the line. Kaipo's sprint faded into light jog, the lion shaking his head, stretching his arms above him before lacing his fingers together, setting his palms against the back of his head while walking the remaining length of the track.

Pausing as he approached the bleachers once more, the lion was met by his family and T.K., the Dalmatian wrapping an arm around the disappointed Kaipo's shoulders, giving a gentle squeeze "Nice try."

"You did a good job, Kaipo." Phoebe set her paw onto his shoulder, patting it softly.

"Ya was good, Kai!" Suzy over-exclaimed, hugging around his waist. The combined affections squeezed a smile from the lion, nodding as he looked down "Thanks." His head tilted up after a few moments more, looking to each three, setting a paw to his sister's head and ruffling her hair "Let's go see if Robert'll have better luck than I did."

Both bleachers of the gymnasium where cheering uproariously as the near last match came to a conclusion, Kessel paired off against a much taller rottweiler, the black and brown canine sporting a much larger and more defined physique than the golden retriever. Both canines were entwined in a grapple, grunting and growling, their teeth bared as their shoves pulled each other back and forth across the mat. Shifting his smaller frame, Kessel slipped from the grip of his opponent, catching around the rottweiler's waist, hefting him off his hind paws and driving the canine down to the mat, his shoulder slamming into his stomach, driving the air from the black and brown canine. Digging his paws into the surface, Kessel held tight around the canine's waist as the referee crouched and signaled the pin.

Nearly springing to his hind paws from the hold, Kessel wore a bright grin, doing all he could not to throw his arms in the air, to give a short little victory dance as the referee held up his arm. Padding past the grumbling rottweiler, Kessel settled amongst the team, getting a few hugs, high-fives and noogies from his teammates as Robert stepped off the bench, shooting a smile to Kessel before giving a wave to the crowd. The husky sighed softly, his happy demeanor lost, as he was unable to find a certain lion, shaking his head faintly. Where are ya, Kai?

As Robert crossed over the mat, the opposing bleachers cheered on their contender, a bright golden furred dingo, his paws, hind paws and muzzle coated in white, with a white splotch of fur between his eyes. Adjusting the straps of his singlet, Mariel turned to face his crowd, giving a wave before turning his smirk back towards the husky, giving a flick of his tail as he crossed towards him. As the ref detailed the rules, both furs meet eyes, nodding to each point laid out, each canines' ears twitching as the whistle blew, catching their paws once their opponent's shoulders.

Grunting faintly, they circled in the grapple before Mars slipped his paws, catching Robert in a headlock, his grin returning a moment before the husky's arms encircled the dingo's chest, clenching tightly on his form. Gasping for a breath in the bear hug, Mars shifted his paws, slipping one behind Robert's before pulling the husky back in a sweep, both landing hard onto the mat.

Shifting slightly, Mars tried to lock his arms under Robert's, the husky struggling to keep the dingo off him, squirming from the canine's grasp and catching under one of Mars' arms, locking his other arm under the dingo's jaw, turning to press his shoulders to the mat. The hold left the husky unable to push down both the dingo's shoulders, with Robert rolling away after a few more moments, rising up to a readied stance as Mars climbed up, aiming an embrace at his opponent's waist.

Kaipo pushed the doors of the gym open, the lion having run ahead of the others in his excitement to watch the last match. Glancing to the mate, the lion grinded his teeth, watching the husky grappling with the dingo as T.K. caught up to him.

Robert sunk down to his knees, grabbing around Mariel's waist, squeezing the dingo tight within his grasp. A faint grin found the white muzzle, Mars twisting over, leaving the husky planted underneath him against the mat. Robert squirmed, struggling to keep himself from the pin, pressing up against the form above him as the referee crouched down, waiting a few moments before signaling the pin.

Mars rolled from atop his opponent as his side of the gymnasium broke into cheers, standing up, lifting his arm with the ref's motions before bowing to his crowd, turning a smug little smirk back to the husky as Robert sat up on the mat, wearing a disappointed expression "Nice try." The dingo quipped, getting a glare from the canine before Mars turned and padded back to his bench.

Robert climbed to his hind paws, shaking off before catching sight of the lion and Dalmatian standing near the edge of the bleachers, letting out a sigh before shrugging his shoulders.

Kaipo padded out across the mat, standing in front of the semi-sweaty husky as Robert turned his eyes away, shaking his head "Sorry you didn't get to see me win, Kai." He mumbled, his gaze being brought back as Kaipo touched a paw to his muzzle, turning his face back to his, the little smile on his muzzle meeting that crystal blue gaze.

"You did a good job, Robbie." Kaipo whispered, leaning up, their lips touching tenderly, Robert's arms warmly embracing the smaller lion, as Kaipo gently hugged the husky's waist in his own.