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*Three: High School Life *

It was coming close to lunchtime and Nero had already managed to get himself sent to the principal's office but thankfully it was not out of any misdeed. In truth Nero couldn't quite care if he needed to go or not, it was only because he wanted to ask about what could be done to help with Isabella's bullying that he even considered standing in the hallway outside the office and grumbling to himself. His companions of course all thought it was over bad behaviour and it suited his reputation for others to think so, but he was surprised as he lounged against the wall to notice another figure heading that way that he'd never quite seen before in his life.

It was a puma female, probably about a year younger than him and she had a sleek glossy golden-brown fur with neat black points and a line of black around her eyes like liner. She was wearing a little pink flower by one ear that gave her a silly and cutesy kind of look that would ordinarily have him laughing at her, but her body was a very different kettle of fish. As he looked at her his eyes were automatically drawn to the voluptuous pair of bosoms on her chest that were clearly more suited to a twenty-year-old rather than a fifteen-year-old and it made him grin wickedly at the sight. Her hips were oddly chunky too, the kind that would be perfect to hang on to and her legs were pretty good, but she walked with them pinched tightly together and her thick tail drooping, everything about her said anxiety. She was obviously shy and when she reached the edge of the wall and noticed him waiting she seemed to flush in fear.

"Is... is this the principal's office? Only I was suddenly called up here and..." She began but quickly seemed to lose her voice and was trembling with real fear when she noticed the way the jaguar with very obvious black markings was staring at her with his big green eyes and his slight tuft on his neck raised like hackles. Even in the standard school uniform there was nothing about Nero that did not sing of trouble and he couldn't help himself but grin and flick his tail at her. He then turned to look towards the door and she suddenly seemed to gain the courage to stand closer to him and Nero was startled, he had expected her to keep standing away from him, but her pink nose was twitching in a cute manner and it made him want to blush as he gave a snort. She looked as if about to say something when the penguin principal stepped out and was practically beaming at the sight of them.

"Oh good, Kayleigh you found your way here alright... that's fantastic for your first day, and you decided to show up as well Nero... it's a good sign. Come on in you two, we'll be brief don't you worry!" The principal beamed as he waddled back inside and the two cats strolled after him. Nero kept his ears flat and his face in an irritated scowl but Kayleigh was smiling slightly at it all as they stepped in and sat down before Nero grimaced at the cheerful voice. He really hated the principal because it was so hard not to like him and that really bothered Nero because he thought it meant the person was less genuine for being more genuine, but this guy really wasn't a problem as he put his flippers together and beamed. "Now I know you're only just beginning Kayleigh, but there's a couple of classes you've missed that will be very important for your exams. Thankfully though I had a good talk with the other teachers today and also thought about a suggestion you made to me last month, Nero. I thought I would agree to remove you from the Art class and free up that period, but in return you will have to stay an extra hour after school on Wednesdays to assist young Kayleigh here catch up with her history studies... since you're probably the only student who can really give her the kind of information she needs. It's a big responsibility, but it will earn you extra credit and I did hear someone mention you might have an interest as a teacher."

"I was saying that to take the piss out of Professor Stonebill... I'm too much of a hassle to be assumed teacher material otherwise you wouldn't be giving me a whole lesson extra off each week. Why should I do it anyway? Stonebill is a decent enough history teacher and it's not even advanced stuff... she can probably catch up easily." Nero groaned, but as he said it he started to click on to who the girl was and what it would mean. The first thing to flick on was that she was the girl his brother Leo was looking after, not to mention that Leo would probably be offered this opportunity next and the golden boy would take it... plus, would it hurt to give up an hour of masturbating over magazines to actually spend some time with a real girl? He could probably even swing around to making his companions assume she was his girlfriend! With a sudden roll of his eyes as the principal looked like he was winding up another good argument, Nero gave a sudden snort. "Alright... but you've got to write an actual letter for me to give to mum about it so she knows what's going on. I don't want her panicking if I'm home early. Have you got a room in mind we can do it in?"

"Of course, the tutorial room is free and there will be staff on hand till six so if you're having trouble it'll be alright to call for help. I thought you might say yes in the end Nero; you really do have a knack for teaching that I wish you would embrace, after-all it's helped your younger siblings out greatly. I suppose it's where you really take after your mother." The penguin beamed and the puma looked a little nervous that she had not been given a say in the matter, but she looked at Nero with a little more confidence as he then stretched his paw out to shake hers and she just blushed. He said their first names were all they needed and that was that. As they stood up to leave however, a rush to go to the next class seemed to begin and Kayleigh was almost knocked into the nearby lockers. Nero quickly hooked his arms about her and pulled her back into the doorway, letting her latch around his waist before he swore at the elephant to have nearly caused the damage. He didn't quite notice that she was pressed into him so tightly, but when it looked fine he patted her shoulder and then walked off. Kayleigh stared after him with a massive blush, but she was eager to catch up with Leo and get on with class.

Leo had picked up Kayleigh's things to be helpful and was heading down the hallway to his next lesson where he hoped to spot her on the way. He was quite confused over the way he was feeling already about the poor girl, especially because he was not sure what he was thinking over her. She was really cute looking and very adoring of his friendship already, indeed she looked up at him with bright eyes and blushed so easily. It was nice to see a new girl that was that cute to begin with and eager to be on his best side, but at the same time was not changing anything about herself to do it. He'd been amused by her flower on her head and made a little joke upon it, but she'd given him a swift look of warning to say she was not going to remove it and he respected that. It was always better when girls didn't try to look like or act like every other girl around them!

"Did you want to stop by the principal's office to look for her? We'd both be late but they'll make an exception for you and I wouldn't care if I got into trouble just once." Leo's most curious friend to date was actually the female cheetah to have ended up amongst his companions. Amy had moved to the neighbourhood from a more posh upbringing in the countryside with her infamously rich parents and from the beginning everyone had been an asshole to her. None had been more an asshole than Nero in fact, but as always Leo had stood up against the bullying and to his surprise it had meant Amy followed him everywhere. His male friends were sometimes put off by her presence and sometimes enraptured by it, if only because the older they'd become the more curious her body shape. For the impala and the spotted deer he spent most of his time being chased by, her skinny form with neat hips and a real hour-glass figure was exciting and just being friends with any girl was interesting enough. Amy though ignored them, her interest just seemed to be with Leo and lately he was starting to get called one of the best looking guys in school, even if that meant nothing to him.

"That's alright Amy, you head on and we'll catch up - I'd rather you didn't get into trouble because of me." Leo stated as nonchalantly as ever and for a moment he was a little concerned that there was a dangerous look in Amy's eyes. He'd come to find that Amy was one of those girls that was very good for pulling him out of a hole and very good for making sure he thought about things properly, so to see her give a strange face was unusual. He shrugged his shoulders and continued onward, knowing very well that Amy would probably follow if she felt a need to no matter what he said about it. His walk down the busy corridors was surprisingly swift and he reached the hall just as he spotted Nero readjusting the flower on the new girl's head and then skulking off with a bored expression upon his face. Leo was automatically filled with fury to see such a thing as the new girl clearly looked flustered and unsure, so he padded to her side and gave a soft snort. "You alright Kayleigh?"

"Don't tell us that jerk just gave you a hard time... Nero's such an asshole!" Leo could hardly say anything as Amy had chimed in and was wagging her great long tail about furiously as she looked toward the more jaguar-like figure's retreating form. One of the few things that Leo and Nero insisted on when at high school was total disassociation; their sisters were welcome to call them brother but as far as anyone cared the pair of them were not related willingly and so they never acknowledge it. All the same, it meant that Leo had to hear everyone saying unkind things about his brother that were often true but sometimes just a little too mean, but on this occasion the little puma turned her pretty black and white marked face towards him with a rather surprised expression before giving a nervous kind of blush.

"Oh... no... I almost got knocked down by an elephant so he pulled me aside and was just telling me to be me careful. He also said I look daft with the flower on my head... but at the same time cute. He's a funny kind of guy isn't he?" Her naïve response was curiously refreshing for Leo to hear and he gave a soft little snort before urging her to walk with them. He passed her the bag she'd left behind with its butterfly and flower patterns and she blushed softly before saying thank you, but Amy did not seem to regard the moment as quirky and quickly began to berate Kayleigh for not being more careful. She made a point continuously on how Nero was the biggest problem in school and the nastiest piece of work going... she made a point of how he'd not been afraid to hit girls or really scare them and he delighted in anyone stupid enough to challenge him. It was all quite bitter for Leo to hear, until Kayleigh suddenly decided to surprise them both. "I don't think so... at least, he didn't seem that way. The principal wants him to tutor me with history for the exam because he's older and he wanted to switch a period out and still earn extra credit. He seemed a little confused at first, but then he seemed to feel sorry for me so agreed to it. I mean... just now he had walked off until he spotted my flower was knocked off and then brought it back to me. He seems alright..."

"If we're being honest here it's probably because he likes the look of your bust and will assume Wednesday evening he can grab those things..." Amy stated, but she got a surprise was Leo's hackles raised and he scowled at her, suddenly seeming to square up as they continued to walk and Kayleigh noticed with a flash of delight in her eyes. Amy looked at Leo in confusion until she realised it was probably very uncalled for and very unfair and she gave a soft snort of irritation. "I'm not trying to make out that he's only interested in that kind of thing, but face it he's older and he's probably going to assume he'll get something out of it won't he?"

"I'm not so weak I can't defend myself..." Kayleigh began, but Leo patted her head gently before insisting that he would have a talk with Nero and ensure that was not the case at all. Actually Leo felt incredibly jealous that his elder brother, who had no interest in academics whatsoever, would be the one asked to take care of the young puma. As the three strolled off to their lesson Leo was startled when he spotted his twin pacing past with his group and the girls stared in fascination at the basketball team, ready to ask questions perhaps until they realised the big event was in a month's time and they would be facing long term rivals. When Leo turned to look he was pleased when Tomas paused and then stepped over to him with an anxious expression before giving a swift smile to the new girl, who blushed slightly at the big figure as the twins stared each other down.

"You couldn't do me a favour could you bro? I've got to go do some practice games so coach has pulled us out of the next period and the one after lunch so we can keep practicing, then of course we've got gym last so I'm going to be stuck there. Can you share your class notes with me tonight so I don't miss anything out?" They smiled at each other before Leo nodded his head and then patted his brother's shoulder before turning to leave with his companions. Kayleigh stared out after him in total disbelief that the pair could even be brothers until she changed the colours on Leo in her mind to make him into the same cat as Tomas. She was surprised but they shuffled into their class and left the team to do their own thing.

Tomas was lucky that Sully ended up showing himself off to be a very good team captain otherwise he could have been in serious trouble. Although there was a real fondness for the American Football that his brother Hector had been a champion of at this school, Tomas and Leo were actually a little different to their burlier big brother when it came to sports. Being a good mix of strength and agility, Leo was actually on the Judo team and had been on it since he had come to the school, he'd learnt it outside of school with Tomas, but Tomas had never really enjoyed the lack of teamwork. Tomas had not been bulky enough for the work in America football, not good enough with his feet for European Football and certainly his fur was too clingy so he could not swim with the speed that Nero could... what he could do though was jump, climb and snatch with his paws. He had been good at practicing baseball for a time as a kid, but when he'd first seen basketball on television with his dad, he'd fallen in love and dared to beg his way onto the team.

Basketball had strict rules for the animals involved, generally the cats were only of the small variety with caracals and serval filling out the faster positions, but the rest belonged to prey animals and the monkeys. With the school not having much in the way of monkeys in recent years, they had been forced to look for a bit more variety and a jaguar-lion mix was good enough to cover the kind of attack position usually left for a gibbon but like the small cats and even the dogs, he had to wear special gloves to keep his claws down so they did not given an unfair advantage. These gloves were irritating and restricted hand movement, but it was all in the spirit of not getting too vicious and hurting someone. Currently though Tomas, Sully and Bruce the collie were the only predators on the team and for the period before lunch their team had been paired up against the team from the year above, which were all prey animals. Much to the frustration of the predators they were requested to wear muzzles as well and though Bruce had been whimpering over it all, Sully and Tomas had taken it in their stride and spent the majority of the game proving Sully was a better captain and Tomas was a better attacker.

They were all startled to have beaten the older and better team by just a few points but it had made the coach delirious with joy and the older team actually rather ecstatic. The elder team's captain was a stallion called Jett, he was a total mix breed with some Clydesdale, Thoroughbred and a pinch of pony to say that he had been a bit of an outcast amongst the equine-only sports. Jett was a good guy with a good sense of humour and a general kind attitude that everyone loved, when the game was over he decided that he needed to know what was going on with the shift in the team and he requested a moment to talk to Tomas in the locker room on their own for a few minutes. The coach had agreed, he trusted Jett intently and Tomas was pleased to get advice from a much more seasoned played who could give some good advice. The locker room was always a familiar and comfortable place for Tomas, he felt safe there and when Jett sat down on one of the benches he joined him with a smile, but he was shocked by the very first thing to come out of Jett's mouth and actually a little scared by it.

"Hey Tomas... being team captain would mean you were put in the limelight if you guys win the next game... in fact, it would mean a lot of girls coming after you and a lot of attention. I get the feeling that none of those things appeals to you at all." Jett was always calm and gentle with his words, but there was a certain level of expectancy in his statement that made Tomas not only flush but drop his ears in shame. He felt as if he'd just been caught out and now he was going to undergo a trial for the matter, but the truth was Tomas did not really know himself. Tomas had never been interested in girls, it had never been something he'd worried about, but recently he had been finding the other guys talking about it a lot and been unsure. His brothers talked about girls a lot and his father acted a certain way around his mother that just sort of told Tomas that he might not be acting naturally. The young mix grimaced at the stallion and Jett just gave a snort. "It's alright... my sister's into girls and she used to be on the girl's indoor hockey team until she started getting worried about it. Look, I didn't mean to call you in here and set it up like a witch hunt or something, I just wanted to reassure you that it doesn't need to matter here. You're a good player and when you're at a game that's all that should be important... so today you were acting a little on edge and I didn't think it was just because of the Sully thing. I suggest you try and deal with that other matter at home, talk to your mum and then get your head back in the game. Not that you made mistakes so far... but if you do it on the big match no one's going to be forgiving about it."

"I see... I didn't think it was that obvious. I thought I was thinking more about Sully being shown in a good light today and yet... I couldn't keep thinking that it would be my luck for something stupid to happen and me to make myself out to be something I'm not." Tomas muttered gently and he was glad it was Jett who had guessed, indeed his sister's situation had become known to everyone in the school when she'd asked one of the popular girls on a date and nearly got herself killed until Hector had then gone up to her, paid her some money claiming it to be a bet and tried to keep her safe from bullying. Jett was probably still in awe of how cool Hector had been about everything in life and how much he'd helped keep Jett's sister secret, so it was only right that Jett should understand and be helpful. With a nervous gulp Tomas looked down at his feet and then Jett patted his shoulder with a neat hoof before Tomas gave a sudden hiccup. "You'll keep it just between us, right?"

"I will... but just be careful about it okay? Whatever you do don't get yourself caught out alright?" Jett stated and Tomas nodded his head gently before stepping over to the bathroom as Jett got up and left to go back to the game. Tomas settled onto one of the toilet seats and put his head between his paws, grabbing his great furry ears in dismay before he suddenly heard the gentle padding of feet over to the toilets and froze in horror. It was not the clip-clopping of hooves but the soft taps of mongoose feet and Tomas grimaced as he recognised the sudden grey head that peered over the top of the cubicle wall to stare down at him. He was about to snarl at the familiar face of Reggie the snitching Dwarf Mongoose, when the younger creature just gave a little whirrup sound and looked almost pleadingly towards him.

"Hey Tomas... sorry, Nurse Janet sent me in here to find you because Isabella has locked herself in the girl's toilets on the second floor after one of those zebra girls was mean to her. She asked for you to come to her and not the others, so will you follow me?" Reggie questioned and Tomas' ears flicked softly in surprise before he stood himself up with a gentle nod of his head and stepped out of the cubicle. He then paused to go and tell his coach the situation until Reggie insisted he would, Tomas had been about to say something in appreciation until the little mongoose had given a curious grin of delight. "Oh and... if you want me to keep that little secret you shared with Jett... all you've got to do is hang around me some time, help me develop me rep..."

Tomas snarled at him, the little monster had been just waiting for the chance to drop in that he wanted something and had seen something, but Tomas just nodded. He could not run the risk of getting into trouble over it and after-all, anyone might think he was using Reggie to get information and that was when Tomas found his stomach churning. Though he followed Reggie in silence up towards the Maths room floors where his sisters' class was attending, he felt his mind clouded with thoughts of the big match and the big problems he had to face. One of the other things he had been realising as he had played with his friends that being captain would have meant, it would have meant constant face-offs with the opposing captain, Clint Manuel, a very frustrating Maned Wolf that just had it in for Tomas at every occasion and yet at the same time had been the first person Tomas had ever had a dream about.

As they reached the bottom end of the corridor near the girl's toilets, Reggie left his side to return to class and Tomas stared out at the male teacher, a secretary bird, pacing around by the door and he could hear Nurse Janet the cow muttering away nervously inside to Isabella. He was irritated that the teachers all seemed to be annoyed at his little sister for nothing, but when he stepped over to the bird, Mr Burgh the head of the Maths department, the bird looked to him with a swift straightening of his head and ruffling of his neck feathers. He was pleased to see that the wanted brother had been able to arrive although he was a little startled to see Tomas in just the red and gold basketball uniform with the black shorts and his thick tail wagging about in dismay. He grimaced at the look, if only because Mr Burgh tended to refer to anyone not wearing school uniform in the maths block properly as a truant, but he understood the situation and even opened the door to the room when the pool bovine nurse was trying her best to coax his sister out.

"Afternoon Nurse Janet, mind if I take over... I can talk to Bella and find out what's wrong for you." Tomas began, but he was a little concerned by the frustrated look of the nurse. It was clear that everyone was starting to think that Isabella was just being a skiver and missing school on purpose these days, but the truth was her sickness were being caused by stress and upset over the bullying she was enduring. Tomas stepped into the empty cubicle beside his sister's locked one and then clambered onto the rim of the toilet so that he could stare down at his sister, who was in tears and clearly very distressed. Her beautiful red eyes tilted up to stare at him and she gave a soft whimper of dismay as Tomas shook his head gently, trying not to sound patronising although the Nurse was still sitting expectantly in the bathroom. "Hey there Bella... what's wrong? Reggie said you had something thrown at you in class and then you just burst into tears and ran out of the class without a word. Then I get told you've spent the whole class in here and everyone's about to go of to lunch. Don't you want to come out and catch up or something? Surely it can't be as bad as this?"

"It wasn't just anything they threw at me Tommy, it was a piece of paper with a note on it saying they were going to shave my tail! They would too, they keep stealing my stuff and I don't want to go back there just so they can be cruel to me anymore. I haven't don't anything wrong... I quite the dance club like they wanted and I took up Judo with Leo so that they couldn't get into trouble over it. I'm doing everything I can to avoid them and they just keep picking on me more and more. I'm not like you guys, I'm not like Dora who's got all her friends and I'm not like Leo or you, I can't just gather people around me... I'm not as tough as Nero either..." Isabella began, whimpering all the time up at her big brother and not sure whether she maybe should have asked them to bring Nero up here instead, but he would only have charged in to kill the zebra. Leo would have gone and given them a firm lecture and gotten her into a worse situation and Isadora just seemed blind to everything that was happening to her, Tomas was safer because Tomas liked to listen and try to offer suggestions rather than develop insane solutions that only made things more awkward.

"Well, firstly Nurse Janet is here to hear you say that, if you've got the note we can take it to Principal Flatfoot and he'll have a brief talk to with everyone in your year about bullying and then deal with who it is and how you're being affected in a way that's calm and straightforward. But the problem is you keep avoiding them and altering yourself and your wants because of girls like that and they go after you. You become a target because they get away with it too easily. How about you go find Nero and have lunch with him? He won't say no to having you company and they'll be reminded that you only have to tell your big brothers to beat them up and they'd be dead... that's real power you know." Tomas stated gently, getting an odd little smile from his little sister before Nurse Janet rolled her eyes at him before turning to the door and telling the secretary bird to go and find someone to find wherever in hell Nero was! That solved Tomas hopped out of the cubicle and waited for Bella to step out as well, hug him tightly and then be led out by him back towards the class for the last ten minutes of the lesson. "You wait behind here until Nero shows up, then you two can go and talk together, okay?"

"Thanks Tomas... I'm sorry I was acting strange." Isabella stated as she was sat back to her chair and all the other girls tried to ogle Tomas' tail. As always he ignored them before waving at Isadora and turning back to head off towards his gym and his coach who would b fuming. Isabella settled down nervously and then turned her head towards the new teacher with an expression of embarrassment. He just seemed to chuckle in response and insisted he understood it when life felt too hard and it encouraged Isabella to smile. The Labrador lecturer continued to discuss the equations on the board and thankfully Isabella's neighbour was willing to share notes from the lesson that she'd missed, but when it was over the twins hung back, Isabella waiting for their elder brother and Isadora because she was having real trouble with maths.

Isadora was not like her siblings at all, when it came to the basic lessons of Maths, English and Science she was completely clueless. Give her music, art or gym or well, anything else and she could tackle it with gusto, but her basics were always lower marked and she was starting to get worried about by the other teachers. When she shuffled over to her sister to see what Bella had taken from the lesson, her eyes swirled in sheer disbelief to see the jumble of sums that made no sense to her whatsoever. She grimaced in dismay, flicking her great black tufted ears in frustration before she noticed Nero strolled over to the room with a scowl upon his face. Isabella noticed him, got herself up and then stepped over to his side, explaining to him straightaway that she was upset and even whimpering until he patted her forehead and then encouraged her to follow him out on his usual wander. Isadora watched with a sudden sensation of disbelief and anxiety - she didn't want to be left alone when she was useless at Maths!

The teacher noticed her concern as he watched Isabella leave with her rather terrifying looking brother and he stepped over to Isadora with a soft wagging tail. He was a chocolate Labrador with a sleek coat, a warm smile and a neat pair of glasses as he bent down to her level and just beamed at her fondly. The little hybrid turned to notice and blushed slightly... everyone agreed this new Maths teacher was quite handsome and Isadora was pleased she had him in this subject, otherwise she could never cope. Her sudden cheery expression was noted by one of the other students that had been encouraged to stay behind as always; he was a rather scruffy looking young buffalo named Dirk that had a very bad reputation.

He was actually Leo's age and Leo's former favourite antagonist to fight with until Dirk's actions outside of school had led to him going to juvenile detention for three months at the end of the year so he'd been forced to redo a whole year of school. Dirk liked to think he was the toughest guy around but generally he was just a misunderstood twit at the best of times, although he liked to think he was as noble as Leo and as menacing as Nero... lately he was trying hard to get back on track. Why, no one noticed but there were thoughts he'd fallen in love with one of the students in this year and everyone was whispering it was either one of the zebra girls or one of the hybrid twins! When he noticed the teacher's kind expression he wanted to muscle in and find out what was going on because he really like Dora. But it was easy to see that the new Maths teacher had about as little regard for him as any of the other teachers and was instead focusing on the only student in the class to have got a complete zero on their little test that day.

"So then Miss Smith... just what is it about these calculations you're having trouble with? As you as you can remember how to do the average, you can figure out the mode, median and range... or have you forgotten how to do the mean average?" The Labrador tilted his head slightly in dismay as he stood up, itching the back of his ears as he realised exactly what the problem was. He would have thought that the calculation was simple enough to do, but clearly the previous teacher had been a bit useless at it and though he didn't want to keep a student through lunch that was not on detention, the guy clearly didn't want to leave her stuck. "Okay... how about I teach you how to do the mean sum and we'll say working out the others is your little assignment for me okay?"

"Really Mr Utagus, you'd let me off just like that?" Isadora beamed, flittering her adorable golden eyes that were practically the honey-coloured copy of her mother's. She looked so truly adorable and sweet, which her teacher could not resist as she clearly wanted to try and give it a go. Clearly there was something about this Labrador that Isadora liked, and she beamed at him with a playful purring sound of delight as she pulled her book open and then looked prepared to study. Mr Utagus smiled back at her gently in return, his tail wagging about in delight as he bent down on his knees and began to assist with the sum. It wouldn't take too long but he was pleased to be encouraging the fourteen-year-old in her studies and making a difference!