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Ch.1 A New Day

Slumber took a hold of Xun Ling, blanketing him in comfortable darkness while soft snoring filled the vast open space of his room. Unbeknownst to him however was the sun steadily peaking over the horizon, ready to shine it's brilliant light and shatter whatever possible dreams he might have held.

However....

Beep! Beep!

The blaring alarm clock beat it to the punch and tired eyes slowly pried themselves open into reality. Xun slowly sat up in his bed, confusion settling on his face as he glanced at the object, wondering why on earth he set the alarm to exactly 6am before hitting the snooze button.

It was odd...he didn't have an appointment, which would most likely have been the case for being up this early. As he stared off into the distance, mulling over each possibility, a knock came to the door accompanied with a voice, breaking his reverie.

"Hey! Are you up yet? School is gonna start soon." The familiar, yet muffled voice on the other end said, making Xuns' eyes widen in utter horror.

This thought never occurred to him and it never had when he believed it was still summer but when he gazed at the medium sized calender that was next to his clock on the nightstand, an agonized groan escaped him. Indeed, it read that today was September 5th, 2011.

A Monday...

"I'll be dressed and out in a sec!" Xun hollered out, throwing his comfortable sheets off of him and setting his feet on the ground, wincing slightly from the sheer force of cold seeping into his body. Hurriedly, he set off for the restroom and glanced at the mirrored reflection in front of him.

Looking back was a seventeen year old panda with forest green eyes and the self-explanatory coloration and pattern of black to white fur around his body. Upon closer speculation, Xun was tall for his age, averaging up to 188cm (6'2) in height and weighing in 95kg (209 lbs) which was all in all normal capacity for him.

_Nice to see I don't look half bad..._He chuckled to himself proudly and rubbed his bare chest with a smile only to frown a second later upon feeling dry patches in the area around his stomach. Xun didn't even need to look down to know what it was as he remembered the previous activity that occurred the night before and it consisted of him stifling every sexual noise he made.

Just thinking about it was making a rather noticeable bulge in his briefs...only to stop once he thought about disturbing things that should never be mentioned. With a sigh of relief and tad reluctance he grabbed a white towel hanging off the rack from his door and set it down upon the sink before placing his hand on a knob for warm water in the tub.

With a twist, the water cascaded down from the shower head and soon enough Xun took off the underwear before stepping inside, letting out a deep rumble of satisfaction as it pelted down on him, digging into the fur and skin. For a good ten minutes of blissful soaking, he felt completely good enough to grab a bottle of fur conditioner on the right side of the wall and lathered himself up nice and well to get everything out so he wouldn't smell of cum.

After about a roughly fifteen minutes in, he turned off the shower and stepped out, only to proceed into a fur dryer. A long, cylindrical shape object provided to air dry in a matter of seconds and Xun loved using it since it saves plenty of time...like now for example.

He had plenty of time on his hands to do whatever until school started but it was drilled into him -by everyone in the house- that being early had its rewards and being late would imply certain doom. If he had to be honest with himself, he didn't want to risk hearing how it is unacceptable to be tardy and how education is valued...though all of this was in fact true so he didn't complain much.

Xun blinked for a few seconds, bringing himself out of his musings then balked to realize he has been in the dryer for another fifteen minutes, wasting an incredible amount of time. I have got to stop being distracted by my own random thoughts!

With that being spoken in his ridiculous mind, Xun hastily ran into his bedroom and with a snap of his fingers -being completely lazy- a school uniform consisting of a white button up collared shirt, burgundy slacks, a jacket of the same color as said pants, a belt and to top it all off...a golden plated insignia rested on the left side of his jacket, emblazoned with a red rose containing the school name above it which read Crestridge Academy.

A private magic high school that Xun was attending to for his senior year and he had to admit, it was satisfactory but the article of clothing they chose were simply tacky and gaudy that always left him with a deep frown. Aside from that though, the school focused on two things which was teaching the students on controlling their magic -while also bringing up advanced magic with occasional tricks and tips- and touching base on curriculum such as the typical english, social studies, math, etc.

Although they had magic, it was heavily bombarded into each student that it was no excuse to not go to college and make something of yourself out in the real world. Xun really didn't have much to say on that matter since money didn't exactly grow on trees and education was very important in life.

Again, the bears mind went through such thoughts as he slipped on a single pair of dress shoes that he almost forgot to put on. With another reluctant sigh he trudged over to the mirror, gave himself a once over and decided it was good enough before heading out into the hallway but stopped at the door as his brother Justin stood there with a nonchalant grin.

"How long have you been standing there?" Xun asked with an incredulous look on his face and this made the younger bear grin all the wider.

"Not long. I already ate when you were taking your sweet time getting dressed then decided to come back up here." Justin replied with his tongue sticking out in playfulness.

Justin Ling, the younger one in the family who was the honor roll student. Fourteen years old, attending the same school Xun was in but only starting the freshman year. He stood at 173cm (5'8) while also weighing in at 93kg (205 lbs). A kind soul just like his brother but somewhat distant to anyone that tried to get close to him, which was why he didn't have a lot of friends since he always pushed them away.

Xun never commented or confronted him about it since it wasn't his business though he couldn't help but sometimes say things that implied for Justin to not be in a huge bubble that would only let his family go into. This was noticed however back in middle school but no one really stopped him and all of them decided to just let it be and let nature take its course.

"Thanks for waiting dutifully oh dear brother of mine." Xun said with sarcasm dripping out like venom and was about to shut the door but stopped when he got a finger wag.

Oh gods what now?

"Tie." Was all Justin said with a devilish smirk on his muzzle as this caused another agonized groan to escape from the older panda.

Xun grumbled and cursed to himself as he went back inside to fetch the red and silver tie through his drawer. Finding it within a few seconds he pulled it out and perfectly tied the object. Turning back around, he spread his arms out wide as if to present himself in the most dramatic fashion as possible. "Happy?"

Justin nodded with enthusiasm in him. "Yes!" He stared at his brother for a moment, brow furrowed into deep concentration.

"What? Did I miss something else?" Xun really wanted him to move so he can get food into him. If there was anything he loved more in the world, it was eating.

"No it's just...have you ever taken that bracelet off?" Justin asked dipping his head forward, indicating the accessory that was securely wrapped around the right wrist.

Xun held his arm out up to his chest, taking a glance at the beads that strikingly resembled his eye color. He thought it was nothing more than a simple trinket but he couldn't quite let go of it no matter the circumstance. Ever since it was presented to him on his tenth birthday he just...kept it on his wrist.

Wonder where they got it now that I think about it...

Apparently he was taking a long moment to answer because Justin spoke up again with a dismissive wave of his paw. "Don't worry about it. Come on, your breakfast is probably getting cold by now." He snickered a little before disappearing into the hallway, heading downstairs.

Xun followed after the young bear through the medium sized corridor with a wag of his stubby tail, finally getting the nourishment he so desperately needed to get through the day. Upon entering the kitchen, he started to salivate as he saw plates filled with steaming bacon, scrambled eggs, pancakes and a few rolls.

And he said my food was getting cold! The liar...

Everyone at the table was sitting down, already eating their meals before Xun joined them with his ravenous appetite. It was quiet however, though this didn't bother him in the slightest since every meal always started out like that and halfway through Xun could feel a conversation coming on.

"So Xun," His mother began, already breaking the silence with a smile on her lips but this one was teasing, "have you found a boyfriend yet?" This made all three pairs of eyes stare at the boy, waiting for an answer and he gulped audibly.

"Well no, not yet. I'm just waiting for the right one to come along that's all." Xun loved his parents, he really did and what made it even better was the fact they were supportive of him being gay. He came out to them in his last year of middle school and was quite shocked to learn that they placed bets on when their son was going to say it. It still amazed him to this day how they figured that out before he could on his own.

Apparently Xun was told -after asking the two parents of course- that in his early childhood cub days he played with barbie dolls. No, not destroy them like a typical boy should or make them out to be action figures and make whooshing noises. He literally played with them, as in dressing the dolls up, going on tea parties, wanting more barbies for his collection.

_Those were the dark times..._Xun mentally shuddered at the thought and buried the images into a deep ocean within the confines of his mind. Thankfully he was brought out of his little moment as their dad spoke up this time.

"Why not your dragon friend? Zane right?" His father asked, getting a nod in return from Xun. "Yeah! Why not him? You two look like you could be great together!"

"Dad...we've been through this already..." Xun said with a roll of his eyes and he was being truthful on his part. They have gone over this topic several times at the start of his freshman year and now, always giving the same answer. "I don't see us being together and nothing sparks when I'm around him so again it's not happening."

It wasn't like Xun intended to hurt his friend in any way possible, for he did love him, just not in that particular way. Numerous times has Zane hit on him only to be shut down completely each time but he was persistent. The guy has dated others -both guys and girls as a matter of fact- and wasn't ashamed to let everyone on campus know he was bi. Thankfully he's played it safe each time so Xun gave kudos to that.

"Well...it's your choice in the matter son so whoever you choose you better bring him over." His father said with a grin and Xun could feel the lewdness lurking somewhere. That attention was soon brought over to Justin who squirmed uncomfortably in his seat from the gaze. "What about you? Any girl or guy fancy your interest?"

Unlike the barbie incident, Justin outright told the two he was bi after kissing a guy one time during middle school and he liked it a lot. It was even more of a surprise that the guy was a jock and played soccer. They became somewhat of good friends and kept that kiss a secret to each other from what he heard. Xun was envious that day but let it go soon enough.

"Oh! Uhh I'm going to go with what he said! Waiting for the right one." Justin laughed nervously before taking a sip of water and gazed down at his now empty plate.

Both parents looked at each other for a moment, shrugged, then got up from the table with dishes in hand heading int the living room. Their plates were still halfway full but they just sat down on the love seat within the living room, cut the television on and watched whatever came on. It was the most oddest thing both brothers witnessed because usually by this time they would be spouting off their rather sexual encounters, trying to embarrass the hell out of the boys or something of the sort.

"Think we should leave?" Xun whispered over to Justin who regarded him with a 'what do you think?' face.

"Do you want to stay and find out?" Justin returned with a devious grin though his eyes were clearly saying 'we should get the fuck out now!' and that was all the older bear needed.

Both boys quickly shot up from the table, placed their dishes into the sink with Xun mentally promising himself he'll wash them once he gets home, excused themselves to their parents who simply nodded as if they were in a complete daze and headed outside to the open world.

They were met with a nice looking garden on their front yard. Lush, fine cut grass along with a few well trimmed medium sized bushes on the left and right side of the lawn. Further on, there were quite a few houses that lined up on either side that continued down the main road.

Cloverfield, a quaint little suburb of a town in Winnipeg, Manitoba that resided a little away from the center in the southwest area. Today was particularly sunny with no chance of clouds covering the open blue sky and even better was the fact that there wasn't any sort of traffic though it's understandable since every house on the block was connected. A few spaces apart but nonetheless connected.

After locking the door, Xun headed to the garage with his brother in tow and with a flick of his wrist the mechanism rapidly opened to reveal a silver chromed car. A gift his dad gave him on his sixteenth birthday that was unexpected but made the teen happy nonetheless.

Unexpected because he never asked him to buy such a thing in the first place but the elder just simply smiled and told Xun to take good care of it.

Xun unlocked the doors as they neared the vehicle and hopped in. After turning on the ignition he backed up out of the driveway, turned and drove off towards the school. Silence enveloped the two but it wasn't all bad with how the weather turned out and this gave him time to think on how this year would go.

Would it be better or worse? Will his brother be alright on his first day? Will he make good friends that could be trustworthy? All of this muddled within Xuns' mind and it continued to expand into a multitude of questions and scenarios playing out like a high school drama TV show.

_Just keep calm...Just keep calm...Just keep calm..._He repeated in a mantra, gripping onto the steering wheel as if his life very well depended on it.

"Xun..." Justin said, trying to catch his brothers attention but wasn't getting far as he looked over and saw that his brother was off in a distant world, eyes completely glazed over.

Xun didn't register anything mentally or physically until he felt something ice cold on his arm, seeping through the fabric of cloth onto his fur. "Oh Gods that's freezing!" He shouted, reality slipping into him and glared at Justin who regarded him with an impassive look and a finger pointing at something.

"The school, and you're lucky I did that otherwise we would have been late on our first day." Justin said with that same expression set on him.

With one more sour look at the young bear he turned his head and...Justin was right...they were coming within range of the building. Xun cursed himself for spacing out but shook his head quickly as they neared the parking lot. Turning to the left they passed through an anti-magic field that basically covered the whole area so this way no one would use their magic inappropriately; like possibly sneaking into someone's vehicle to steal whatever valuable item available.

Luckily none of them can expertly pickpocket...

Looking upwards, the building looked like any other school with the traditional layers of bricks surrounding it and a wide, concrete dome shaped roof overhead. At the entrance were two wide wooden double doors. There weren't any distinct coloration or anything else to make it unique.

After parking his car both teens climbed out with Xun locking it afterwards and strode on over to the entrance. Pushing the doors open they were met with stale white and grey tiles on both the floor and ceiling, dull fluorescent lighting that could make you fall asleep any second by just staring at them, streaks of silver clashing with burgundy in parallel lines on the walls that were the same color as his tie. Then...to complete this awful thing of a sham were furs...all around wearing the school uniform.

It wasn't all too bad, as two people Xun knew from his early childhood years stood near the entrance with smiles on their faces once they saw who came through.

"Hey!" Zane waved and bounded over with a bit of pep in his step, closing in on Xun then giving him a hug. "Had a good sleep?" He gave a not so subtle wink and quick as a flash, groped the pandas' left butt cheek.

Zane; an early childhood friend of Xuns'. They've been together ever since kindergarten and have gone to the exact same schools, making them inseparable. Now that they were in high school his feelings for the bear were becoming quite apparent since freshman year and it was very evident when he flat out asked Xun out one day, to which the offer was turned down.

A sad day that was but he soon got over it. He was a scrawny ice blue dragon when they first met but after working out for a few years, the muscle definition was showing through his suit. He stood at 188cm (6'2) and weighed 86kg (190lbs).

"Just peachy..." Xun replied, not even mentioning the little action that happened for a second before the dragon let go finally. "What about you Gwen?"

"Slept like a log!" Gwen exclaimed with her arms extending upwards, paws clasping together and having a nice stretch for the day. The ferret relaxed herself after and leaned against the wall to her left with arms crossed. "Morning Justin! Can't wait for the first day of the wonderful world of school?" She asked with a grin.

Justin jumped a little, startled at the sudden question being asked before answering back. "I guess...I just hope I'll do alright until I graduate myself." He said, beaming a reassuring genuine smile back at the girl.

Gwen was and always will be the tomboy of the group; a rather tough girl who would literally fight any guy or girl bigger than her if they so much as looked at her wrong. She went through countless fights during middle school and coming home covered in bruises but she always won the battle. It was funny to Xun how some mages chose to fight with their fists though he can't really judge since he himself often done the exact same thing before high school came along.

She stood at 170cm (5'7) and weighed 56kg (123lbs). Just like the men's uniform Gwen had on the same colored jacket, complete with tie except on the lower area she wore a simple dull gray skirt and burgundy shoes.

"Oh you'll do fine! With how your grades were in middle school I have no doubt you'll graduate with tons of awards in your hands." She chuckled, causing the young bear to flush red in his fur.

"Thanks...I think hehe but umm I'm gonna head to my class so see you guys!" Justin exclaimed with a quick wave goodbye and strode down the hall, taking a left turn and disappearing out of view.

Xun watched him go with a pang of forlorn and it was quite readable on his face because as soon as he turned to face his friends both were giving sad, pathetic looks. "Please don't start...not on the first day back."

Zane quickly darted his eyes on the floor, averting the pandas gaze. "We know we shouldn't but it's just he looks so reclusive, even though he talks to people for only a moment."

"Yeah...do you think he's still--" Gwen started but was cut off once Xun made a swiping motion in the air with his paw, silencing whatever words were about to come next.

"I don't wanna think or talk about it," Xun breathed in and out before coming to a relaxed state, bringing out a shining smile to which both friends couldn't help but do the same. "All I want is for today to be a great one." He received nods from the two and once they were all settled, they went down the hall to their own class the friends had together.

As Xun weaved through the crowd of furs, gently pushing some out of the way with Gwen and Zane trailing behind him, a ring was starting to slowly form around the group. All eyes were staring at them with curiosity, waiting for something exciting to happen and the space was starting to become a rather tight squeeze. When only the lockers were at their backs, it didn't take long enough to know a fight was about to start.

_And I'm the target..._Xun thought with a grimace and just when he was about to call out who was causing this, he heard a few grunts from the right side of him, turning around to find both friends trapped in telekinesis by a rat and Clydesdale "Dammit" He muttered to himself, his confirmations ringing true.

"Fag!" A voice jeeringly rung out in the midst of the ever growing crowd and Xun instantly knew who it belonged to. In front of him a few people parted ways to reveal a massive brown furred grizzly bear looming up with a nasty scowl.

"Good to see you too Kota!" Xun replied with a cocky smirk and that smile soon disappeared once he was smashed against one of said lockers behind him with searing pain shooting throughout his body.

Ouch...

"Thought I made my point clear that I didn't wanna see your ugly mug around here again." Kota growled with malice in his voice as he held Xun's left shoulder with a firm death grip.

"Your point?" Xun had to think for a clear second on that before a memory kicked in. "Oh you mean last year! When I single handedly beat the crap out of you in front of your friends?" That must have hit a nerve and it was evident because that grip was becoming tighter by the second.

"Dude don't push it..." Zane warned with a slight grunt while the Clydesdale holding him looked amused at the spectacle before him.

"I agree with him on this Xun...though if I weren't in this hold I'd be the one kicking his ass along with these two!" Gwen snarled, struggling to get out of the spell she was trapped in but it was futile.

You'd send all three to the hospital if it were you right now Gwen...

Surprisingly Kota ignored them, focusing his murderous gaze upon the panda as if they were the only two standing in the world. Wordlessly he brought his free arm up, pulling it back while balling his fingers into a fist and just as he was about to strike a mighty fine blow to Xuns' face...

"Wait!" Xun shouted, startling Kota enough to make him falter and saw that fist slowly being brought down to the side. "Good...now I have a question and answer this honestly," he heard whispers and murmurs all around the two of them until coming to a stop to figure out what was going to happen next. "Have you kissed anyone?"

...

Kota gave a big 'wtf' face at the question and he wasn't the only one as everyone had the exact same reaction. "Why the hell do you wanna know that?" He snapped, growling even louder and pushing his face closer to the pandas', their muzzles almost pressing to one another. "You have three fucking seconds to tell me why you wanted me to stop or I will pound your face in twice as hard."

That sounds so gay...and it doesn't help with you pressing me against the lockers like this with your face close to mine. Xun thought to himself and fought hard not to smile so he wouldn't give anymore of a reason for this guy to literally kill him. Without thinking -since he had three seconds anyways- he locked lips with Kota for just a few seconds until quickly departing.

The grizzly was so stunned by this action that he just balked, not even moving, trying to fully register just what the hell happened. He didn't even notice Xun wriggling out of his grip until a few moments later with a few shakes of his head and just when he was going to lunge for him again, his own body stopped all at once.

"So typical...you have nice lips though!" Xun said with a goofy smile, his tongue hanging out in the middle for the effect of playfulness with his right arm outstretched, evident that he trapped the grizzly in telekinesis.

"Wha--Let me go you fucking faggot!" Kota roared with his whole body struggling to get out of Xuns' grasp but, unfortunately he really couldn't. His two minions however took the simple bait, releasing Zane and Gwen to only get socked in the face, knocking them both out without much effort.

"Since you asked so nicely...I'll do just that!" Xun said with another cocky smirk on his muzzle and moved his arm, practically moving the grizzly as well and aimed straight at the two goons who were still on the ground. Once Zane and Gwen moved cautiously out of the way, he pushed some of his energy out on the spell and sent Kota crashing face first into the ground.

That was fun! And with that thought, the bell for beginning classes rung out, causing everyone to scatter and clamber over each other to get to their respective rooms. Xun called his two friends over to him and the three of them headed over to homeroom.

"Umm are you sure we should leave them there?" Gwen asked with concern in her voice, looking back at the three bullies who were still dazed.

"And have them try and kill us with no mercy?" Zane retorted with a huff of annoyance and was met with silence from the ferret.

Xun didn't say anything else on the matter and truthfully, he didn't really have much to add so he kept his mouth shut as they walked the halls with other students around them to get to their class. Eventually they came upon the room with the door already open and inside, a female lynx who looked like she was in her mid-thirties stood behind a large desk with hands clasped behind her on the right side of the door.

Aside from her appearance, the whole room showed how dull this school was with white marble tiles speckled with gray on the floor along with the ceiling, white fluorescent light, and a potted plant residing on the far upper right corner. The only distinct color around were the wooden desks, arranged in four columns and four rows facing the entrance and the teachers desk. Upon further speculation; hanging near a whiteboard was the Canadian flag.

He didn't realize he spaced out until a paw landed on his shoulder, jolting him out of his reverie to find the teacher giving him an amused smirk though her eyes spoke of slight irritation from having to not being able to go on with what she had in store for today.

"Third column, row three Mr. Ling" She said with amazing patience in her voice and with quick apologies, Xun sat down in his seat. It wasn't surprising that Zane was behind him and Gwen in front, leaving the right side open since his left was occupied. "Good! Everyone is seated but before we begin, I must announce that we have a student that has recently returned to this town and he should be coming in very soon."

_Well this is interesting! Wonder who it could be..._Xun ran through a list of potential people that could fit the description but try as he might, nothing came to mind and gave that up rather quickly. Other things jumbled up in his brain however, not even hearing the click sound of the door opening and revealing a pure white furred lion possessing stunning sky blue eyes, a well groomed yet fluffy mane and a distinct black nose pad.

Everyone started to chatter amongst themselves, trying to gather what information they could by just looking at him with hungry, judging eyes. It was almost about to get out of control until the teacher cleared her throat and silence soon followed.

"Now that I have your attention..." She turned her head towards the lion who looked indifferent from what just happened but continued and pointed at the seat next to Xun. "Third column, row four."

The boy nodded without a word and sat down next to the panda. As he was seated he kept taking very quick glances towards him and furrowing his eyebrows as if he was struggling to remember something. "Xun?"

Again Xun was torn away from his musings as yet again, a paw landed on his shoulder and once he turned around to see who it was his eyes opened wide like saucers. "Rowen?!"

~~~

Justin sat in his seat, residing in the middle row for him to pay attention and he was in a very relaxed state despite the casual whispers buzzing about around him. In truth, he wasn't really paying any mind to what the teacher was babbling on about since it was all heard before.

Basically it was school rules, the grading system, warning other teens how it was dangerous to use magic for unnecessary fights...all of the basics that were covered when everyone was in middle school. He knew this stuff already and decided to basically tune it all out, settling within the confines of his mind.

He often did this whenever something uninteresting came up, like now of course. Sometimes though, Justin didn't like to roam around in his thoughts because there were some unsettling things buried deep inside but he'd just focus on something else to get rid of them.

I wonder what would happen this time around...should I make some friends? He looked around the room, scanning the random faces of furs and choosing who would probably accept him but as he searched...no one came to mind. With a deep sigh he brought his head down upon his folded arms on the table, wishing he wasn't so different among the rest.

The thing that made him stand out above the rest was that he was contradictory in and of himself. This reason is the fact that he's so nice to people...so nice that he would offer the shirt off his back for anyone who needed it and yet he isolated himself, not letting a single person into his walls he built up for himself.

Anyone that tried their best to befriend him, the panda would just shy away and decline the offer. And it was because of this strange act, everyone in middle school practically looked at him the wrong way and, inevitably he was dragged into fights but luckily his brother Xun came to the rescue each time until he moved on over into high school.

Four years...has it really been that long? Justin thought with a forlorn expression on his face until a sudden tap on his right shoulder brought him out of his musings. He turned his head to find a husky smiling at him with an amused look. "Hi..."

The canine had very creamy white fur at the front of him, though all Justin could see of it were his head down to the neck because of the uniform. From the top of his head and his tail, the panda could tell the back area was a shade of red, just like those brilliant ruby eyes that were noticed upon closer speculation.

"Hey! You're getting bored of this too aren't you?" He said with a chuckle, trying to strike a conversation but failing as Justin simply nodded his head, not saying another word to respond.

I hope he's not trying to get close to me...

Not even unperturbed by the silence, the husky continued on. "Name's Damien by the way! What's yours?" Again he was met with no answer but saw the pandas' eyes wander over behind him to see three people staring with curiosity and intent. Taking notice without breaking a beat, he hiked a thumb over to the people who were sitting in the last row lined together on either side. "Ahh those three are my closest friends. They'll introduce themselves once this is over."

Justin had no clue what to make of the situation. Here he was with a fur who was obviously trying to be friends with him but he didn't want that type of closure, yet he had to give credit that Damien didn't seem disturbed by how non-responsive he was being. Unfortunately that had to be broken for there wasn't any choice but to say something since a question was asked so..."My name's Justin" he replied with smile of his own.

"Nice to meet ya! You looked down in the dumps there for a moment so I decided to come talk to you and maybe cheer you up." Damien said with that warm smile never fading and not bothering to ask what the problem was thankfully.

"Thanks for that, really but if you're trying to be friends...I'm afraid that's not going to happen." Justin regretted those words as soon as they flew out of his mouth once he saw that smile on the husky disappear slightly, replacing it with worry and concern.

"Well I'm gonna lie here, I was hoping we would be but now that that's out of the bag...why can't we?"

"I have my reasons..."

"Personal thing?"

"Very personal...can we move onto another topic please? I'd rather not let this go on." Justin really didn't want to or else he'll sink into another state of depression that would take a long time to dig himself out of and it was not a pretty sight.

Damien considered this for a moment, rubbing the bottom of his chin in deep thought until he snapped his fingers with a growing smile coming back upon his face. "Despite you saying we can't be friends because of whatever reason you have, I'll still be around you!" He exclaimed, his eyes twinkling with merriment.

What?!

"What?!" Justin exclaimed out loud, causing everyone to stare directly at him. He didn't notice his voice reached to the level of a shout so with a blush of embarrassment and quick apologies the panda stayed quiet until chatter was brought back up once more. The teacher was done with her explanations for today since it was all she was required to do. "You don't even know me!" He hissed under his breath after a few minutes.

"You don't know me either" Damien shot back with a nonchalant shrug.

"I mean deeply know me! As in everything about myself!"

"So? We'll get to learn more about each other in time"

"I never agreed to this! You're a great guy but I am not looking forward to being close with anyone!" Justin was starting to get very angry and this was rare, even for him.

"Well you're gonna have to get used to me being around cause I'm not going anywhere like I said." Damien said with a nod, as if to reassure himself and Justin who was still fuming over the whole deal.

This guy is insane! But if he wants to go this far then fine, I'll just ignore him until he gets bored and leave me alone. For some reason that thought hurt him in more ways than anyone could do it physically and he knew the reason why...he just didn't want to voice it. "Fine...you can do whatever but just to make myself clear, we are not friends. Got it?" He emphasized his last words by poking the guy in the chest only to be a bit surprised by the muscle he felt.

"If you're wondering," Damien spoke up, startling the boy a little and moving his paw away "I do work out from time to time."

Nice to know...

Justin felt a bit intimidated but he bit his tongue, not even allowing the slightest discomfort show on his face so he put up a brave smile. "That's great! At least you don't do it periodically with an overzealous attitude like most of the men in this generation and time." The look he got from spouting off like that made him blush in embarrassment.

Damien stared at the panda for a long time until he burst out laughing like he was told the most funniest joke in the world. "If you mean trying to become buff like a football player then yeah, I'm not going for that and besides I'm fine with what I got."

In truth, he had to admire the confidence that was rolling off of Damien and secretly wished he possessed that but felt like it would be a colossal waste of time and effort. He was never one to potentially like himself or be a part of the big crowd but more comfortable in seclusion and being a part of the background though he helped anyone in need.

Gods I'm such a major contradiction!

Justin never realized he was making a rather disturbing face until Damien pointed it out with another look of concern. "It's fine, I was just thinking." He waved a paw absently in the air and got a nod in return.

"Alright...well I was wondering--" Damiens' next words were cut short as the bell for lunch rang throughout the school and everyone jumped to their feet, marching out of the door.

Justin followed suit as he got up from his seat and slung his backpack over his shoulder but as he stepped out into the hallway a paw landed on his shoulder, stopping him from proceeding. He turned around to see Damien with three other people close behind him and again, looking at the panda with curiosity. "Oh yeah...I forgot you were going to introduce me."

With a smile, Damien turned around to stand by the pandas side and quickly pointed a finger at one of his friends and the first was a cheetah...who was giving Justin a very obvious death glare.

Well that's one way to make a first impression...

The guy's name was Cameron, a lanky feline who stood at 173cm (5'7) and if Justin had to guess he weighed in 61kg (134lbs). Apparently from what Damien has said...that angry stare was his way of liking people.

Next, Damien went on to a tall wolf named Marcus who had dark blue markings on the left side of his face that cascaded downward. Justin had a feeling there were probably more on his body but decided to dismiss that as he noticed the muscle definition showing through the fabric of clothes. Standing at 185cm (6'1) and weighing in 69kg (153lbs) he seemed pretty stocky compared to the husky.

Although he looks big, he seems neutral. It was true when all the guy ever did was have his arms crossed, facial expression impassive to hide his true feelings.

Last one in the group was a black bull named Mike and his demeanor was very laid back, which surprised Justin because he also had a stocky build but an inch or two shorter than the wolf. He stood at 175cm (5'9) and perhaps weighed 70ks (155lbs) in solid muscle.

This one seems decent enough.

Justin turned to face Damien and noticed he was an inch taller than him and -once again!- guessed that the husky weighed 66kg (145lbs) in muscle. He also realized that Cameron was at the exact same height as him and for some reason that creeped the panda out more than anything.

"Are you okay?" Damien asked as he picked up on the pandas terrified expression though he was trying his very best to hide it.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine!" Justin replied with a dismissive wave of his paw before continuing down the hall towards the cafeteria.

"Well I was wondering if you wanted to come hang out at my house today?" Damien asked with hopefulness in his voice.

Justin cupped the bottom of his chin in thought as he stared upward towards the ceiling. "Not today since I'll be busy...what are you doing?" He asked with surprise as he saw the technique all canines used, which consisted of those triangular eras pinning down to the skull, tail tucking between legs, the quivering of the lips and finally...

Finally there was...the eyes...the heart melting eyes...

Hera help me...just don't look...turn your head...ignore as best as you can!

"This is my being denied face." Damien said with an added pitiful whine to complete the action while Justin tried his damned hardest to avert that look but unfortunately he looked and...

"You are lucky I'm not giving you the could shoulder or being a complete ass to you right now..." Justin closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them and staying firm through the assault. "Seriously, not today but tomorrow alright?" He relented and quick as a flash Damiens' expression changed right back to optimism.

Such...a...puppy! This is going to be a long day.

~~~

Lunch time came around and Rowen was already seated in one of the thankfully vacant tables. The whole vicinity was open spaced with rectangular tables stacked up against one another horizontally and round, uncomfortable chairs accompanied them. Rowen had made and brought his own lunch from home after witnessing the food from the last high school he moved from and as it stood, all were not that appetizing.

As Rowen chewed on his sandwich, waiting for Xun and his two friends he thought about how much the panda had changed through the years. At first the boy was very shy and timid, speaking softly whenever his name was brought up into conversation, not into rough housing, not very conversational either but now that personality took a whole complete turn.

He's much better this way...His musings were broken upon hearing the sounds of everyone coming up and sitting down beside him, Xun being on his right while Gwen on the left and Zane sitting across the three of them.

"So how long has it been? Nine years?" Xun asked after taking a bit of his food with rapid flicks of his ears to show off how happy he was to see his long time friend come back to town. "And are you staying this time?"

"Eleven to be exact and yes I'm permanently residing here in Cloverfield." Rowen responded with an amused smirk and out of the corner of his eye he witnessed the pandas' stub of a tail wagging at high speeds to the good news.

Rowen was Xuns' very long childhood friend before Zane and Gwen came along, getting know the two as well along the way. They practically met when they were babies and went to the same elementary school. It was a grand time for the both of them as they shared laughs, played pranks on their parents, got in trouble together but it all came to an end once the feline turned seven and had to move thanks to his father landing a promotion that required them all to do so.

It wasn't all too terrible as Rowen sent written mail over to the panda for a few years but unfortunately, his father stopped him from doing that so he could pursue onto soccer, becoming a professional and the feline knew better than to deny the man. Constantly Rowen was pushed to working out so he would have the muscle and strength to do tryouts and while he passed, resulting in him joining the teams he knew this sort of thing wasn't his calling so whenever his father worked late into the nights he would read.

Reading was his ultimate pleasure in life and thanks to it, he had remarkable grades in all of his classes so the lion had a combination of looks and a brain to match. Throughout his years of school, moving on up to Junior year he's always had plenty of girls chasing after him but each got turned down as his excuse was 'my heart already belongs to another' and while it pissed them off greatly, Rowen didn't even worry about it.

And now, at his last year of high school he came back to Cloverfield during summer once he learned the company his father worked for sunk due to bankruptcy. Soon enough, the man was hired to another one that resided in Winnipeg so here they were staying for good this time.

Amazing how I've went through all of that and stayed sane...

"Rowen!" Xun shouted, snapping the feline out of a distant memory and stared into those green orbs. "What made you want to come back here?" He asked, staring straight back with anticipation.

"Well...nothing actually made my parents want to come back, except for the fact that it is cheaper to live here and my father losing his job last year." Rowen admitted with a heavy heart and saw Xuns' ears folding to the base of his skull.

"Was he working in that big financial company over in British Columbia? I heard it was staying well afloat for awhile until it was recently shut down due to losing money." Gwen chimed in before taking another sip of water.

"That's the one but it's not all bad. He's landed another job here after about six weeks of settling into the neighborhood." It was a bit surprising to both of them on how fast the call came but they didn't read into it now that they were going to be alright for the upcoming years.

"Well that's great! And..err...sorry I asked." Xun stammered out his apology with a blush of embarrassment and continued eating his food. His spirits lifted however, after Rowen telling him not to worry about it and that he didn't know the situation.

Everyone around the table took on a different topic of conversation and it kept shifting to randomness throughout. Eventually Zane came around also and joined in, supposedly he was lost in deep thought over something but no one really questioned what he was thinking about since it would probably be along the lines of what to do after graduation.

Justin came into view a few moments later with a tray full of food but deciding not to sit down with the group. "What are you guys talking about?" He asked before setting his sights on the lion and gave a puzzling look.

Rowen blinked a few times, peering at the young panda with calculating eyes until a light bulb went off in his head and he balked. "Is that your younger brother?" He asked, turning his head over to Xun and got a nod in response before returning his attention to the boy who gave a quizzical look.

"I'm sorry but who are you and how do you know me, let alone Xun?" He asked with an even more perplexed expression and the lion couldn't blame him.

"It's Rowen! You don't remember since you were little but he's a friend of mine who moved away for a few years and now he's back!" Xun answered with overwhelming joy and slung an arm over the felines shoulder with a smile.

Justin didn't say anything more on the current subject but nodded in understanding before turning his back on them and headed over to where a husky with three others sat and joined them.

"Seems he's made some friends" Rowen said with an amused smile and looked over to see everyone else thinking the exact same thing with their happy expressions.

"Yeah..." Xun trailed off, having a wistful look in his eyes that the feline could obviously see but didn't comment on it since whatever made him like this wasn't his business anyway.

"So back to our original topic..." Gwen said to break an uncomfortable silence that was beginning to settle and gazed at Rowen with a grin. "You didn't answer Xuns' question and all of us are curious here...what made you want to move back here?" There was a glint of deviousness in the grin that made the cat shudder slightly.

At this, Rowens' cheeks flushed red and he cursed his pure white fur that did nothing to hide the embarrassment. "Because my heart belongs to the person who still lives here and I hope this one will love me back." Surprisingly this vague confession made Zane snap himself out of another deep thought trance and peered at the feline with keen interest.

"Oh? Is it a guy?" Zane asked with a smug grin but faltered when the lion showed the same expression.

"If that is what you believe, then yes it is a guy."

"So it is a man!" Gwen exclaimed with excitement in her eyes but frowned when Rowen wagged a finger at her. "Is it a girl then?"

"If that is what you believe." Rowen repeated and heard groans of annoyance, to which he couldn't help but chuckle while his tail made excited loops behind him. He looked over to Xun to find him crossing his arms and his face in deep concentration. "Do you have an answer too?"

Xun still had that expression on him, ears idly flicking about as he thought of an answer and after a few moments of anticipated suspense he opened his muzzle and it was..."It's me isn't it?"

...

Everyone was silent, both ferret and dragon staring at Rowen for any type of indication that the panda hit the nail on the head. All that was moving though were the idle movements of that long, luxurious tail with Rowen keeping a complete straight poker face until breaking out into a sly grin and repeating himself again.

"You're kidding! Come on, give us an answer! This is killing me here!" Xun exclaimed with a pout.

"Well it's obvious the answer is a dude..." Zanes' voice dripped with mild interest as he was getting bored now.

"Please it's a girl! We already have a gay panda and you're bisexual! Besides I'm the only straight one here." Gwen retorted with a scoff before returning her gaze over to Rowen with hopeful eyes. "You are straight aren't you?"

Rowen couldn't help but have an amused smirk on his muzzle from all of the guessing that was going on. "I never said I liked men or women, all I have done is given you information on a person without supplying a gender. You've all chosen to assume, to which I've made a quick game of which was fun." He expected for there to be unhappy glares or something of the sort but what the feline got were a round of groans.

"You're really not going to make this easy are you?" Xun asked and sighed when the big cat shook his head, that big fluffy mane flowing side to side.

The bell rang once the conversation was done and over with and all of the students made their way out of the cafeteria onto their next period of class.

Both Zane and Gwen went down a separate corridor to the left from the main hall, leaving Xun and Rowen left.

"So really, who's the person you're looking for?" Xun asked with unnerving persistence while he gazed over at the feline who gave another poker face.

"It's astounding how you don't give up, which is what I like to see in people more often but sadly...there aren't any." Rowen was fighting hard to not smile at the exaggerated face Xun was making but he won...just barely. "Do you really want to know?"

"Yes I wanna know! Come on!" There was something amusing on seeing a seventeen year old panda behaving like such a child.

"Alright...I'll spill but promise me not to tell anyone." Rowen said as they proceeded down the main hall with a corridor to the right coming up and as he leaned over, his warm breath tickling the pandas fur he opened his muzzle...

...

Xun kept walking but his whole body tensed up from the suspense and anxiousness showing throughout his body.

...

"The one who my heart belongs to is...no one."

...

Xun stopped in his tracks and stayed silent for a very long time, his eyes wide like saucers until his brows furrowed, teeth bared and a deep growl escaped out of his mouth. "Stop fooling around!"

Rowen burst out laughing with all the mirth he contained within him flowing out all at once just from that single look of utter surprise. "Oh Gods your face was so priceless!" He started to hold up his paws in surrender once Xun stated to loom over with an arm raised to punch but put it down after and the feline was beginning to calm down with a few giggles. "But in all honesty I can't tell you."

"Fine..." Xun pouted for a bit as he started walking again with Rowen beside him and just as the both of them came up to the right corner, the feline turned and walked down the path. "You better tell me sometime alright?" He shouted and kept walking down the main hall, disappearing out of sight.

Rowen still chuckled as he walked, thinking about the hilarious answer he provided and smiled. I'll tell you sometime Xun...sometime.

~~~

Xun was standing in the courtyard near the parking lot, chatting with his three friends as school ended for the day. He was waiting for Justin to come out so they could go home and as all of them started to really dive deep into a conversation, he showed up with four other people behind him standing a few feet away.

"Those your friends?" He asked with a genuine smile, proud that his brother found people to confide in other than him.

"Of sorts..." Justin trailed off with an absent shrug before nudging his head over to the parking lot to indicate he wanted to leave.

"Wait, what about them?" Gwen hiked a thumb over to where the husky and his group were.

"They told me earlier they rode here with their bikes and they're all naturally close to the school so no worries there." Justin gazed over to Xun with his left foot tapping the concrete, impatience starting to show.

Xun got the message and waved his friends farewell while Justin did the same to his own group and both brothers headed off to the car. Soon as they hopped in, they were down the road heading home.

After about ten minutes they were at their house, pulling into the garage with Xun locking it once they got out of the car. Coming inside, Xun wandered to the kitchen and noticed a note on the table. Curious, he picked it up and read it's contents.

Son, your mother and I are going to be rather late coming home for this week from work so please look after your brother and take care of yourselves.

Love, Mom & Dad

"They're going to be late again?" Justin spoke out, coming into the kitchen to grab a drink and got a nod of confirmation.

In hindsight, they weren't really angry since this has happened before and it wasn't like their parents were gone all day so it wasn't anything to actually worry about. Julie and David both worked as doctors and sometimes it required them to work very late shifts. Usually both started working by the time Xun and Justin got home until ten at night.

All in all, it payed for the private school both boys were attending to so they were grateful.

"You wanna watch a movie to pass the time?" Xun asked and saw his brother shrugging his shoulders before agreeing and strode to the living room with the older bear not far behind, settling down on the couch.

As they watched, night time did eventually follow and it was time for them to go to bed for tomorrow. Both boys went upstairs to their respective rooms, telling each other goodnight and shut their doors.

Xun stripped down to only his boxer briefs before settling on his bed with the comforters draped over him and closed his eyes. Everything became peaceful as he slept, his whole body and mind at ease...unaware of the calm surroundings. It was all going well...until his right wrist started to itch.