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Walking down the sidewalk, Rio hiked his backpack up on his shoulder then looked over at Kody. The bunny didn't even have a shirt when Toby showed up with him, let alone a backpack. "Hey, Kody, did you put your backpack in your locker before those guys jumped you, or did you ditch it somewhere?"

The lagomorph shook his head, his paw tightening around Kaylie's, "I had it on my back when they came after me. Swung it at them and got a few good hits in with it, but then they snagged it and tossed it away. No idea where it is now."

"It's okay Kody," Kaylie returned his squeeze, "Somefur probably took it to the lost and found. We'll check it out before school starts, okay?"

"You can find all sorts of cool stuff in the lost and found," Skyler added, kicking a few feet ahead of the group and popping a kickflip, "Most furs don't even check to see if their stuff turns up, so after a while, they move it to another free grab box." Landing the kickflip, the terrier chained it into a heel flip, then a pop shove-it over the parking strip to grind along the curb.

"Wow," Kody gave a small smile as he watched the terrier, "He's pretty good at that, isn't he?"

"Hmm?" Kaylie had been scanning the street around them for any furs acting weird and hadn't been paying attention to her brother, "Oh, yeah, Sky's awesome at street. Decent at vert, but this is his thing."

"Vert?" The bunny asked, looking over at his girlfriend.

"Short for vertical. It's for pool tricks, halfpipes, and ramps," the female terrier replied, totally missing the confused look Kody was giving her.

"What Skyler is doing right now are street tricks. Things you can do in a parking lot." Rio explained, with a grin, "What Kaylie means when she says vert are the tricks that you need to have a lot of air time for. Like flips and stuff. Don't worry, it confused me the first few times too."

Nodding, Kody was about to ask another question but they had reached the end of Rio's street and were about to turn onto the main road leading to the school. Until that point, one or two cars had passed and there were a few other cubs in sight, but they had mostly just been by themselves. The main road, in stark contrast, was heavy with traffic and a bunch of cubs were walking along the sidewalks, some with parents, most not. There where even a few stragglers heading to the high school mixed into the crowd.

The bunny froze before they turned onto the busier road, his paw tightening again around Kaylie's. He didn't like crowds, and usually tried to stick to back streets. Feeling the bunny pause, the terrier turned and slowly stepped up to him.

"It's okay, Kody," she said softly, "we've got you."

Seeing the rabbit still hesitant, Rio pulled his phone out and dialed Toby's number. After a few rings, the parrot's voice rang over the speaker.

"Good mornin' Rio, what can I do fer ya?"

"Not much, just need a little extra support," Rio replied, "we're about to turn onto the main road and our newest friend is feeling a bit nervous."

"Gotcha, dere in a few minutes." The hatchling replied, and the distinct sound of wingbeats could be heard as he took off before the call ended.

"I'm sorry guys," Kody said softly, "it's just..."

"Scary." Kaylie finished, gently drawing him into a hug, "Don't worry, Kody, it's fine. We all said we'd help and we're never going to get annoyed if we need to take extra time to do that."

Hesitantly wrapping his arms around the terrier, Kody hugged her back, still not entirely believing that he had a girlfriend. He stood in her embrace for a few moments, his mind forming connections between being held by the terrier and cuddling with Rio the night before. When Kaylie pulled back to smile at him, his heart jumped. It had been so long since anyfur had looked at him like that, and his mouth was about to go off without his brain's consent but Skyler called out and distracted him.

"Toby!!" Seeing the parrot approaching, the little terrier got a running start and jumped onto his board, building up speed down the sidewalk back towards Rio's house. Through timing born of practice, he ollied right as the avian reached him. Toby caught him in mid air, wrapping his arms around the terrier's chest and circling around as Skyler pulled a method air, landing it as Toby let him go and landed himself.

"That is vert," Rio laughed as Skyler skidded to a stop and high fived the avian.

"Yeah," Kaylie shook her head with a grin. "but I can do that without a giant bird holding me up."

"Details details," Toby chuckled, turning to Kody, "Ya doin' okay, Kody?"

The rabbit was smiling after watching the display, but he shook his head as he looked back at the street. "No, not really. But you beat up the bullies in the locker room, so now that you're here... Let's go guys."

The parrot nodded, and patted him gently on the back before grinning wide and throwing his arm and wings out as he stepped around the corner. "And DAT, Skyler, is just how much cooler den you I am."

"What!?" The little terrier yelped, picking up his board and moving to playfully push the hatchling, "You are not cooler then I am."

"No?" Toby laughed, stumbling a bit, "Kody seems ta tink so."

Shaking his head at the two of them, Rio chuckled, and gave Kody a gentle push, "Come on guys," he said, "let's get going."

The rabbit took Kaylie's paw back in his and flanked by his girlfriend and the tiger he took a deep breath, then turned the corner to follow the bickering furs down the busy street.

The rest of the walk to school was uneventful, Skyler and Toby kept up their playful bantering about who was cooler as the hatchling scanned the crowd for anyfur that was looking too intently at their group or being suspicious. Rio and Kaylie tried to bring Kody into a conversation, but the lagomorph was too nervous and kept silent, almost clinging to the terrier for support. Reaching the school yard, they were halfway to the building when a call rang out.

"Hey, bout time you guys got here!"

Looking up, Rio smiled wide as he spotted the rest of their group running up.

"Hey guys, whose cooler?" Skyler called back, "Me or Toby?"

"Toby, all the way," Shayne replied, laughing at the terrier's indignant bark.

Mike dodged around Skyler as he playfully charged Shayne and pulled Rio into a hug, putting his muzzle next to the tiger's ear and whispering, "That...video... was... HOT..." He slid his paw down and risked a quick tug on his tiger's tail and a small kiss to his neck before breaking the hug.

Rio jumped slightly and blushed as his cubhood chubbed up a bit in his jeans, "Hey same to you, man. Was not expecting that this morning."

"Well, at least I had good timing," Mike laughed, "I didn't get yours till I climbed out of the shower. Checked my phone and had to turn around and climb back in."

"Okay you two, did I just miss something?" Kaylie asked, turning back to Mike and Rio after corralling her brother.

"Nope," Zac replied, grinning ear to ear, he hadn't been able to hear the whispered part of the conversation, but he'd seen Mike's paws, "Nothing at all Kaylie."

"Nothing she hasn't already missed, anyway," Shayne added, getting the male cubs to laugh, save Kody, who just looked at them suspiciously.

"Don't worry," the female terrier said, shaking her head in exasperation as she tugged his paw, "you'll get used to the weirdos."

"I sure hope so, yer datin' one now," Toby chuckled, spreading his arms out in an expression that dared the terrier to disagree with him.

Shaking her head, she couldn't hide her grin as ignored the laughs of the group and tugged Kody's paw, "Come on, bunny, let's go check for your backpack."

The group made their way around to the office, and waited for the gazelle behind the desk to acknowledge them.

"Is there something I can do for you dear?" The grownup asked with a smile.

"Yes, I hope so ma'am," Kaylie nodded, "my friend here lost his backpack on Friday and we were hoping it had gotten turned in."

"Oh, well, I think you might be in luck," the gazelle smiled again and looked over at Kody, "we have a few backpacks in the lost and found, can you describe it for me?"

"Ummm... It's mostly purple, but the shoulder straps and zipper covers are black." the rabbit replied softly, not meeting her eyes.

"Hmmm..." the gazelle tapped a paw against her chin for a moment, then rolled backwards on her chair, climbing to her hooves and moving around a corner, "I think...Ah!"

A few moments later she appeared carrying a backpack matching the description and a black hoodie.

"I believe this is yours," she smiled warmly, setting the backpack on the edge of the counter, then held out the hoodie, "I'm not sure about the hoodie, but the cub that turned in the backpack said she found them together."

"Yeah, that's mine too, thank you..." Kody said, taking them both.

"You're welcome, now you cubs should get going, the bell is about to ring." The gazelle smiled and went back to her computer.

Stepping outside the office, Kody set his backpack down and pulled the hoodie over his head, tugging the hood down firmly over his eyes. The black sweater was several sizes too big for the cub, hanging halfway to his knees. The sleeves went down over his paws, and after he settled it in place, between the shadow created by the hood and his bangs, his eyes were almost completely invisible.

"You sure that's yours, Kody" Skyler asked, "You're swimming in it. Can't even see your face anymore."

"That's the point," the lagomorph replied, his voice having taken on a harsh tone as he swung his backpack over his shoulder and started walking down the hall, "If they can't see me, I don't have to deal with them."

The terrier's brow furrowed, and he was about to snark at the rabbit, but Toby put a paw on his shoulder. "Let it go, Sky," he said softly, "It's not anyting personal. He just put his armor on, I tink."

"Yeah, well, I'm gonna get it back off of him," Kaylie replied, squaring her shoulders, "I liked him smiling with his hair pulled back, I will not let him stay all grumpy and hiding in that dumb hoodie. Come on guys."

"You guys go ahead and get him to his classroom," Rio said, "me and Mike are gonna stay here. Gotta talk to the policefur."

"Okay," Shayne said, clapping him on the back, "we'll take care of him. See you at recess."

As the group trotted after Kody, Mike and Rio went back into the office.

"Did you two forget something?" The gazelle looked back up, "If you don't hurry you're going to be late for class."

"No, we have an appointment this morning, ma'am." Rio replied stepping forward, "I'm Ivorion Kendrick and this is Michael Hayes."

Checking her computer, the adult's expression shifted from kind to concerned as she noted what the appointment was for. "Take a seat boys, I'll let your teacher know to excuse your tardiness, and Mr. Hayes will be out to get you shortly."

Taking seats on the bench against the wall, the two cubs didn't have long to wait. Within ten minutes, shortly after the tardy bell rang, the outer office door swung open to admit the muscled form of Rio's dad carrying a small duffle bag. He caught his cub's eye and smiled before stepping up to the counter. He spoke softly with the gazelle for a few moments, setting the bag on the counter and pulling a piece of paper from it. She nodded and moved the bag to the floor behind her desk before picking up a phone and speaking a few words. She had barely set it back in it's cradle when the inner office door opened and their principle stepped through.

"Good morning gentlefurs, if you would come with me?"

Hopping to their footpaws, the cubs joined the big tiger as Mr. Hastings led them past a few doors down the hall and opened a door, gesturing them through.

The room turned out to be a conference room, empty of furniture except for a large round table seated at which were two furs wearing slacks and jackets, an otter and a vixen, both of whom rose to their footpaws as they entered.

"Good morning," the otter said, stepping forward and extending a paw, "How are you all doing?"

"We're doing well, thank you," Ivor replied, shaking paws, "and yourselves?"

"Likewise, thank you," the vixen smiled, shaking paws as well before everyfur settled into seats around the table. "Okay, so my name is Detective Declan and this is my partner Detective Legrange. We all know Principal Hastings, may we get your names?"

"Good to meet you detectives, though obviously I wish it were under better circumstances. I'm Ivor Kendrick, and this little one is my son Ivorion. His friend is Michael Hayes, but to avoid inevitable confusion, they go by Rio and Mike respectively. As for Mike," the big tiger set his piece of paper on the table and slid it across the table, "I spoke with his parents this morning and appraised them of the situation. They both had to work, but have given me permission to act in their place for him."

The otter took the paper and read it over before handing it to his partner. A moment later, she folded it back up and set it aside.

"Thank you for that, Mr. Kendrick," she said, "that actually makes our job quite a bit simpler."

"I'll pass that along to my wife, we spoke yesterday and she was quite clear on what I was going to be doing this morning," Ivor replied, chuckling, "Now, I'm sure that you two fine detectives have busy schedules and while I know that these two are more than happy to be skipping class, the sooner we get this resolved the better for everyfur involved."

"Well said, Mr. Kendrick," Declan nodded, turning to the cubs, "Now, your principal tells me that you two had quite the interesting day yesterday, and after reading the written statements from your baseball team, I'm inclined to believe him."

"What we need from you two, is what happened before they showed up." Legrange nodded, checking the top piece of a stack of papers to his immediate right, "Kameron says that you two were in a bit of trouble, which is why he went and grabbed the team. What was going on?"

The cubs exchanged glances, each waiting for the other to start speaking. After a moment of silence they brought their paws up in a quick game of rock paper scissors, drawing a slight chuckle from the policefurs, and then Mike sighed, Rio's rock beating his scissors.

"Okay, before we start, can we see your badges?" Mike said, "We're supposed to see badges to make sure that you're actually policefurs."

"I hardly think that's necessary-" Mr. Hastings started, but the vixen shook her head.

"No, he's absolutely right," she said, pulling her badge out and sliding it across the table, her partner following suit a few seconds later, "whenever dealing with a policefur, you should always make sure they are who they say they are. Well done, Mike."

The little ursine grinned at the praise, and inspected the badges closely along with his boyfriend. Rio grabbed them and held them up to his dad.

"What do you think, do they check out, dad?"

"Everything looks on the up and up to me, Rio," Ivor said seriously, his eyes sparkling, "I think we can trust them."

"Okay, you guys are good." Rio said grinning, sliding the badges back, "go ahead Mike."

The detectives chuckled and put their badges away. "I'm glad that we pass inspection," Declan said, "Now, what can you tell us?"

"So our baseball team had won their game on friday," Mike replied, "every time we win a home game, the faculty has a bit of a party on Sunday morning."

"Yes," the otter nodded, "I've gone a few times this year. Your team is doing well."

"Undefeated," the little bear grinned, then shook his head and got back to the point, "Anyway, one of our friends had volunteered to help out and was making pancakes, so we were hanging out near her little cooking setup. She-"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, dear," Declan, said, pulling a small notepad from a pouch on her belt, sliding a pen from the spiral binding, "Can I get the name of your friend? I assure you she's not in trouble, but just in case we need to speak with her."

"Oh, yeah, sure, her name is Kaylie," Mike replied, looking up as Ivor nudged him and motioned him to keep going, "Sorry, Kaylie Rhys. R-H-Y-S."

"Thank you Mike, please continue."

"K, so we were hanging out with her and she needed more supplies, so me and Rio went to get more from the teachers. We were on our way back when some ding dong knocked the cooler from our paws."

"Make sure you get that, Declan," the otter said seriously, a smile belying his tone as he looked over at Mike, "Is that hyphenated or just one word?"

"Two words, actually, both capped." The bear grinned in reply.

"Ding Dong. Got it," the vixen chuckled, writing it down, "What did Ding Dong look like?"

"He's a hedgehog, umm... grey fur with black quills I think," Mike replied, Rio nodding in affirmation.

"Yeah, that's right, and the very tips of his quills are red," the tiger added, "I think he's got blond hair, not very long, but kinda scruffy."

"Okay," Declan nodded noting all of this down, "Do you know why he decided to start messing with you two?"

Instead of answering, the cubs exchanged glances and nodded, putting their paws on the table and showing off their claws. The showers that they had taken had washed off some of the polish, but enough was still present to get the point across.

"Okay, so Ding Dong noticed that you had your claws painted and started giving you guff about it. What happened next?"

"Well, we tried to just walk away, but he wouldn't let us. He kept pushing the cooler down. Then he started saying that..." Mike trailed off, glancing at his boyfriend, not wanting to embarrass him too much.

"It's okay," the vixen smiled, "you don't have to tell us exactly what he said, we've got the gist in the statements, what happened next?"

"Well," Rio spoke up, "I guess it's kind of my fault, I lost my temper and pushed him."

"You pushed Ding Dong?" Legrange asked, getting a nod, "Okay, then what?"

"Well, I knocked him off our cooler, and then a bunch of other furs came up. Two dogs, a boar, a coyote and an eagle." Rio picked the story up, "The coyote's the one that cut my muzzle, he grabbed my shirt and started slapping me. That's about when Kameron showed up. He told them to stop, and was about to help, but the other furs with Ding Dong stopped him and he ran off."

"Right, Kam showed up after I tried to get the coyote off of Rio. I tried to help him, but the boar stopped me." Mike put in, his shoulders dropping slightly at his failure, "He hit me a few times, kicked me in the side and then just held me down so I couldn't help."

"You've got nothing to feel bad about, son," Legrange said gently, reaching out to pat the ursine's shoulder, "You stood up to a bully, that by all accounts was a lot bigger than you, to try and help your friend and got outmuscled. There's no shame in that."

Nodding as her partner reassured the little cub, Declan looked over at Rio, "So, the boar held Mike down, and the rest focused on you? Is that because you had pushed Ding Dong, or is there any other reason that you would have been the main target?"

"Well, my claws are pink and glittery and Mike's are just green," Rio replied, "that had something to do with it I think. Oh, and I took my shirt off to get away from the coyote and go help Mike and they saw my necklace. Of course, it didn't work, one of the dogs pulled my hair and stopped me, but-"

"Hold on," the vixen held a paw up, "you mentioned a necklace, do you think that had anything to do with their focusing on you?"

"No doubt," Rio nodded, blushing slightly, but pulling his paci up from under his shirt.

The otter raised an eyebrow, but the vixen just noted it in her notebook.

"Okay, so they saw your pacifier. Go on."

"Well, one of the dogs told Lukas-" Rio started, but Mike cut him off.

"Lukas! That's Ding Dong's name!" The bear said, "Lukas! A bunch of the other bullies kept calling him by name."

"Ding Dong, AKA Lukas." The otter nodded, "Okay, so what did the dog tell Ding Dong?"

The phrasing of the policefur's question got a giggle from the cubs and a chuckle from Ivor.

"Well, he said that since I had the paci, that he should check to see if I had any other baby stuff, like a diaper. So the coyote went to grab my pants. The dog that was holding me had my arms up in a full nelson, so I kicked the coyote and the other dog, but the one holding my arms squeezed really hard and they managed to get ahold of my legs and pulled my pants down. I wasn't wearing a diaper, but the eagle said that my undies could be the drynite training pant things, so they went to pull my undies down, and that's when Kameron came back with the team. Before he let me go he spit in my face, kneed me between the legs and patted my butt. Then they ran off and Mr. Odhran, our teacher, showed up about a minute or two later."

"Hey, Mr. Odhran has my shirt," Mike piped up, "Rio used it to wipe his face clean, and he said that spit has DNA on it. Do you guys think you can use it to find out who they are?"

"Your teacher is a smart fur," the otter nodded, "We've got your shirt, and we'll try and get it back to you after we're done with it. It'll definitely be very helpful."

Mr. Hastings cleared his throat softly and stepped forward from where he had been leaning against the wall. "I apologize for interrupting, but right before the aggressors were going to expose Ivorion, there was a verbal exchange that I feel must be recorded."

"Thank you Mr. Hastings," Declan nodded, turning back to the Rio, "almost all of the accounts do mention that you and Ding Dong spoke briefly before he grabbed your underpants. Do you remember any of that?"

Rio squirmed slightly, unsure of whether or not to tell this part. The policefurs needed to know that there were a bunch of guys hurting cubs so they could stop them, but he had promised Kody not to tell anything about him, so.... He relaxed as his dad's arm wrapped around his shoulders, holding him tight.

"Go ahead, min kjaere," he said softly, "you can tell them what was said at school."

Nodding and taking a deep breath, Rio looked back at the patiently waiting otter. "Okay... So I asked him not to pull my undies down, and he said something like he had to cause he didn't want to disappoint the crowd. Then... He said that they were down a plaything because the rabbit's brother had went missing, and... and I would be a good r-replacement. A-and then right b-before they ran off, as he touched my b-butt he... he said 'next time.' D-do you think that means he's g-going to tr-try and come g-get me?"

The little cub's voice had gotten steadily more shaky as he spoke, and by the time he asked his question he was whispering and on the verge of tears, looking with wide, frightened eyes at the two policefurs. He had been fine since it happened, but explaining everything to the policefurs the implications were sinking in, and he was getting scared.

Ivor pulled his cub into his lap and held him close, placing his muzzle between his ears and speaking softly, "Så lenge jeg fortsatt puster mitt kjære barn, vil han aldri røre deg igjen. Jeg sverger."

In stark contrast to the gentle tone of his voice, the veins in his neck were bulging from the effort of restraining his anger at those who made his cub cower in his arms.

The look in the big tiger's eyes made the otter pull slightly back, but the vixen never flinched, showing just how much longer she'd been working.

"I promise young one, that we will do everything in our power to keep you safe." She said gently to Rio before meeting Ivor's eyes, "I am sorry that we upset your son, Mr. Kendrick, but we need to follow up on that information. If you need to take a few minutes to calm him down, we understand. I'm sure that Mr. Hastings wouldn't mind grabbing a few bottles of water."

"Not at all," the bull stated, stepping through the door and closing it gently behind him.

Rio had turned and burrowed into his dad's embrace, a few tears leaking from his eyes as he was rocked.

Mike sat fidgeting in his seat, wanting to go to his boyfriend, but not wanting to out them.

Seeing the little ursine in need of a distraction, Declan engaged him. "Hey Mike, whatever your buddy's dad just said sounded interesting. Do you know what language that was?"

"Huh?" Mike asked, startled, but latched onto the distraction, "Oh, yeah, that was norwegian."

"Norwegian, huh?" The vixen said, "Are they from... Norway?"

"Rio's not, he was born here, but his dad is." Mike replied, "I think he came to the US for college."

"It's a pretty cool language, does Rio speak it?"

"Not really, he can understand most of what his dad says, but he can't really speak it. He's learning though."

Declan nodded, about to continue her distraction when Mr. Hastings came back with water bottles and a few paper towels. Setting the water on the table, he passed the paper towels to Ivor.

Nodding in thanks, the big tiger took the offered towels and popped open a bottle, slightly wetting one and pulling his son back a bit. "Come on, Rio," he said softly, wiping his cubs eyes and gently cleaning his face before offering him the bottle, "big and strong, nofur's gonna get ya. We need to answer a few more questions, okay?"

Sniffling a few more times as he was cleaned, the little tiger nodded and took a drink, climbing out of his dad's lap and facing the policefurs again.

"Okay, I'm good now," he said, voice still a bit soft, but lacking the tremulous quality it had before.

"Alright." Declan stated, smiling reassuringly, "You stated that Ding Dong told you they were down a plaything because the rabbit's brother went missing. Do you know who he meant by that? Do either of you have a rabbit friend?"

Both Mike and Rio stayed silent, exchanging glances before both grabbing a bottle and taking drinks.

"Boys?" Legrange asked, leaning forward. "If you know something, you have to tell us. Your friend could be in trouble, we need you to help us."

"We... can't." Mike said softly, "promised we wouldn't."

"Promised who, Mike?" Legrange pressed, "Your friend? It's honorable that you want to protect him, but some promises you need to break, especially if the furs that were harming him are out attacking other cubs."

"No." Rio shook his head emphatically, "If we tell you, then you'll go to his house, and make everything for him worse."

"Policefurs are the good guys, Rio," Declan joined, "why would we make things worse?"

"Well...." the little tiger said, hesitantly, not sure exactly how much he could say without directly outing Kody.

"Detectives," Ivor spoke up, placing his paw on his son's shoulder, "their fears are well founded. Their friend is scared that if he speaks to the police then he'll be either forced onto the street or into a group home, and his head has been filled with horror stories about those places. I've done some research, and while I'm certain what he was told was exaggerated, I've found out some pretty bad things about them myself. If I can guarantee that their friend is in a safe place and being taken care of, can you promise them that he won't be taken from that place?"

The detectives exchanged looks before returning focus to the little tiger.

"Our main concern is that your friend is safe." Declan said, looking steadily at Rio, "I can't promise that he'll stay where he is forever, but until we can get everything cleared up and taken care of as long as he is safe, we have no reason to move him."

"Okay, but you can't say that we told you anything," Rio said, "he won't trust us and he might run away. You could say that Ding Dong gave up his brother's name and you found him like that. Could you do that?"

"Yeah, that sounds reasonable," Declan nodded, "Now what can you tell us Rio?"

"Okay, his name is Dakota. He hasn't told us his last name, but he's in Mr. Vaugn's class. His brother has been hurting him and letting other furs hurt him to pay for drugs."

"That's horrible, Rio, do you know if his parents are aware of the abuse?" Declan asked.

"No, they... they're dead." Rio replied softly, "They died a long time ago."

"Okay, do you know who he's been staying with?"

"That's the problem, he was staying with the brother that was hurting him. His uncle is supposed to be watching them, but from what he says, he hasn't seen his uncle in years. He sends money, but he doesn't think he's even in the country."

"So they've been without adult supervision since their parents died? And this uncle is..." Legrange shook his head, "We'll deal with him later. You said he 'was' staying with his brother. Where is he staying now?"

"He's staying at my house, that's how I know he's safe."

"Your house?" Declan looked up at Ivor, "Were you aware of all this, Mr. Kendrick?"

"I knew that Dakota had been having trouble," the elder tiger nodded, "another friend of theirs brought him over on Friday night while we were out. We didn't know the situation until Saturday morning, and even then we were only told that Dakota was in trouble, he didn't mention any other cubs."

"Why didn't you call the police, Mr. Kendrick?" Legrange asked, "You have a responsibility to inform the police if you are aware of any abuse taking place."

"I'm aware of that, Detective Lagrange," Ivor nodded, "but if you had seen the cub's reaction to even the mention of informing the police, you would have hesitated as well. Besides, we had removed him from danger and were working on getting more information when the altercation happened yesterday."

"You were acting in what you thought was Dakota's best interests," the vixen nodded, "Okay, that works for me. So he's staying with you and your family. I'll accept that for now, because we have bigger problems."

"Okay, let's take a step back," Legrange said to the cubs, "You keep saying he's being hurt. Do you know exactly what's going on? Has he told you?"

Rio nodded, shuddering and rubbing his arms, "Y-yeah," he said softly, "he said that they hurt him really bad, like, ya know... under his tail..."

The expressions on the policefur's faces darkened, and when the otter spoke again, his voice had gone flat and aggressively neutral.

"Under his tail." He said softly, "I'm sorry for having to ask you this question, but what do you mean by that?"

"Well, he only t-told me about one time, but...." taking a deep breath, the little tiger squared his shoulders, his dad putting a paw on his shoulder as Mike took his paw under the table, "he said th-that they jumped in his bed and bunch of f-furs put their junk up his t-tailhole and in his m-muzzle a bunch of t-times before shooting their stuff inside him."

"I was afraid of that," the otter said softly, "Thank you, Rio."

"His brother was involved," Declan continued, "do you know anything about the other furs involved?"

Both Mike and Rio shook their heads, but then the bear paused.

"Mr. Hastings?" He said, looking up at the bull, "The cubs that trashed the bathrooms? Toby said that he thought they were going to do more than just beat up Kody Friday if he hadn't stopped them. Maybe they know something. Why else would they be messing with him?"

"You have a point, Michael." The bull nodded, turning to the policefurs, "We are already bringing their parents in to speak with them about the vandalism to the hall and the bathrooms, would you mind sticking around to speak with them?"

"Not at all," Declan nodded, turning back to the cubs, "thank you two very much for speaking with us. If you think of anything else that you need to tell us, please let either your parents or Mr. Hastings know, alright?"

The cubs nodded, holding up the adventure scout salute.

Ivor chuckled, "I'll keep an ear open detectives, if you need anything else from us don't hesitate to let us know."

"We sure will, Mr. Kendrick," Declan nodded turning her notepad to a blank page and pulling out a business card, passing it over with her pen and notepad, "if you would just write down your number and address for me, that would be very helpful."

The big cat nodded, quickly jotting down the information. "There you go, I've listed my cell number as well as my wife's and our house phone, and the address of course."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Kendrick," the vixen nodded, looking over at Mike, "Did you want to just have us get ahold of Mr. Kendrick if we need to speak with you, or did you want to give us your contact information?"

"I should probably give you my info," Mike nodded, taking the offered notebook, jotting down his mom and dad's cell numbers and his address, he looked up. "Should I put my cell down too or...?"

"No, just your parent's will be fine, Mike," the vixen smiled, taking the notebook back and passing him a business card as well, "Make sure that you give that to your parents, okay?"

"Will do," the ursine nodded, slipping the card into his pocket.

"Okay, cubs," the vixen nodded, standing and shaking paws with them, "I think that's about all that we needed. Thank you so much for your help."

Getting to their own footpaws, Ivor and the cubs nodded.

"Anytime, always happy to help," Mike looked over at Mr. Hastings, "Since we've been so helpful does that mean we can, ya know... maybe..."

A smile played at the edges of the big bull's muzzle, "It means that you and Ivorion can go to class now."

"Darn. Worth a shot though." The bear chuckled, nudging Rio, "Come on Rio, let's get going. Excuse or not, Odhran's gonna give us crap for being late. Later Mr. Kendrick!"

"See ya Mike," Ivor chuckled, returning the hug his son gave him, "Have a good day at school kiddo. I brought the stuff your friends left at the house, so pick it up after school. I've got to get to work, but I'll have my phone on. If you guys want a ride home, call me."

"You got it dad," Rio replied, holding the hug longer than normal before pulling back, "See ya later."

Mike grinned at his boyfriend and gave him a push, knocking him off balance before throwing the door open and sprinting down the hallway, "Ten points Rio!"

"Cheater!" Rio laughed, catching his balance on the table before blitzing after the bear.

Both cubs ignored the gazelle's call to slow down, and tore through the hall. Rio was gaining on the ursine, and thus ran straight past him as he juked and disappeared into the boycub's room. Stutter stepping to a halt, he turned and looked back to see the little bear grinning at him.

"Come on Rio, pawing off to your vid just didn't do it for me," he said softly, patting his backpack, "we've been excused from being tardy, let's make the best of it."

Rio hesitated as Mike ducked back into the restroom, the fear of getting caught and ending up in a lot of trouble warring with the steadily swelling lump in his jeans. A moment later, a smile spread across his face as curiosity about just what the little ursine had in his backpack drew him after his boyfriend.