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"Look at him, Robert's parents are right. He's really an albino." Several voices laughed together around him.

"You know what they say? He told Christophe he's gay, and Christophe told Julien." A female voice said.

"What ? No, you're joking, impossible. Christophe is his... Friend !" A masculine voice said.

"I swear. Think, who would really want to be his friend, except to betray him ?" The voices laughed together again, much louder than before.

"Chris, why ? Why did you do that ? I trusted you. You were the only one I trusted. And now..." He talked to himself before starting to run, shoving people in front of him. He took the stairs of the highest building of the high school and ran up the roof.

He walked to the ledge and contemplated the void above him before walking back and sitting down against a wall.

---

Leo awoke with a start, panting heavily, holding his head with his hands.

"What is... a nightmare ? No, that's what happened four years ago... but why is it coming back now ?" He looked at his hands and then sighed while his whole body trembled.

It was not uncommon for the wolf to have nightmares about his past, but since he had moved to America he never had one. So why ? What did it mean ?

He had managed to leave his native country. He had managed to start a new life. He had managed to have real friends besides Chris. So why ?

There was probably no point in asking these questions. The dream world has many unexplained secrets and mysteries.

He got up, went to the bathroom, and took a hot shower to relax before getting dressed. Returning to his room he noticed that a light rain was hitting against his window.

Leo loved rainy days. When he was in France, they were the only days when he could be quiet without anyone laughing at him. He had made a habit of walking alone in the rain whenever he could.

He took his jacket and phone, then left his room to head for the dinning hall.

He walked a few steps and stopped, smiling as he felt the rain falling on his body as well as its smell.

Theo's voice suddenly broke him out of his reverie as he stood motionless in front of the dormitory in the rain.

"Hey, what are you doing ? You might get sick. Is Chris not with you ?" He asked Leo, surprised. It was the first time he had not seen them together in three weeks. Not counting classes and the day they met in the dining hall.

"Theo !" He smiled at the husky. "No, he sent me a message last night to tell me he's starting classes earlier this morning."

They walked together to breakfast and arrived at the dining hall just before the rain intensified.

Leo served himself a cup of coffee with a croissant and a glass of orange juice, while Theo had tea and rusks with strawberry jam. They sat at a table near a window.

Theo noticed that since they arrived, Leo had only stared at his hindpaws.

"Leo, are you okay ? You're acting weird today." He asked him, looking worried.

"Yeah, don't worry. I just had a nightmare last night." He turned his head to the window and smiled as he watched the rain before taking a sip of his coffee.

"That doesn't reassure me Leo... Do you want to talk to me about it ?" He gave him a reassuring smile and spread jam on a rusk.

"Can't hurt, I guess." He smiled at the window, then looked Theo in the eyes. "I dreamed of something that's happened during my years in high school. A few days before Chris's parents adopted me."

"It was right after school. I was surrounded by other students who were laughing at me for various reasons, then they said something that made me think that Christophe had betrayed me. At that moment, I started running to the highest point of the high school."

Theo took the wolf's paws in his. "Listen to me, Leo. You are no longer in France and no one here will ever do that to you, so try to not think about it anymore. Okay ?" He smiled at him, tightening his paws.

"Thank you, Theo." He smiled when he felt the warmth of Theo's paws and then began to eat his croissant as lightning began to strike the area.

"So, what class do you have today ?" Theo asked him while drinking his tea.

"Um, I have two hours of trade from 10 a.m. to noon and I'm free for the afternoon. I think I'm going to go for a walk in the city before I come back to study a little." He replied, finishing his croissant.

"You want to go for a walk in this rain ?" he said, swinging his muzzle to the window.

Yes, it may sound strange, but I like the rain. I can relax when I'm in it." He smiled again as he watched the flashes that decorated the sky.

"Well, I won't judge you." the Husky said, winking. "The pairs for the presentation at the end of the year will be chosen next week. We can talk to Mr. Blake after your class if you still want us to be together ?"

"Yes, I do." He nodded as he finished his coffee.

"In that case, I'll meet you in front of the room when you're finished."

"Yes, I'll send a message to Chris later to tell him we'll be late for lunch." He said and swallowed his glass of orange juice with a single gulp.

"What are you going to do today ?" Leo asked as he collected his tray.

"I have a meeting this morning with my team, and a game scheduled this afternoon. No classes in sight for today." He told him and finished his breakfast in turn.

"What time is your game ? I'd like to come and watch it ! he exclaimed. "Out of curiosity." he added softly.

"That'd be hard; we're away playing as a visitor today. But I'll let you know when we're home."

"Oh." He simply said, looking disappointed and got up, taking his tray in his paws.

"So, you can go for your walk in the rain." Theo chuckled as they dropped off their trays.

"Silly dog..." he chuckled with him as they left the dining hall. "Well, I have to pick up my bag in my room. See you later."

Theo nodded and they went their separate ways.

Leo arrived at the amphitheater about twenty minutes early. He went to sit in a corner of the room as usual before recalling what Theo told him earlier in the morning.

"Try to not think about it anymore, okay ?" The husky's voice resonated in his mind. Although he knew there was no point in thinking about it, he couldn't help himself. He had a bad feeling.

"Easier said than done." He moans as he puts his head on the desk.

"What is easier said than done ?" Said a soft voice.

"Aaron ? How long have you been here ?" The wolf asked, as a fox sat down next to him.

"Around ten seconds." The fox chuckled. "Then tell me everything. And don't make me guess like I did last time." The fox smiled at him, giving him a friendly pat on the back.

Aaron. Leo already liked him very much, and considered him to be important in his life, yet had only known him for a week. It was thanks to him that he had managed to open up to Theo today.

The Fox was a little taller than he, around 1.70 meters. His fur was bright orange, he had hazel eyes and his pointed ears had a gold piercing in one of them. He also wore a silver necklace with a pendant.

The Fox had approached him when he saw that the Wolf was left alone most of the time. Leo would always remember their first conversation -- and for good reason -- Aaron immediately understood what Leo had been through.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Wolf was sitting on a bench in the corner of the room, slumped out on the desk in front of him. He always isolated himself from others, though he was not anti-social or agoraphobic, he was simply afraid; afraid of being rejected by others as he always had been, in spite of the good experience he had had with Clara and the others.

Some wounds remained open for years, even after they healed.

A fox approached the wolf and sat beside him; the wolf looked at him looking confused. What could he want ?

"Hey, are you okay? You always stay alone during class, I'm worried about you." said the Fox in a bright voice with a slight Bavarian accent.

The wolf regarded at the fox before answering. "Do you often worry about complete stranger ?" He asked him nonchalantly as he sit up on the bench.

"If I have to spend several years with this stranger, then yes I worry about him." The fox smiled at him simply by holding out a paw. "My name is Aaron."

Leo had never thought about things like that before. He was going to be with the same people for four years. Still, the Fox's response caught him off guard. During all of his school years in France, no one had worried about him except Christophe. And now someone he did not know was worried about him? Unthinkable! What was his problem? As he studied the Fox's open smile and extended paw, he thought, Maybe the problem is mine...

He eventually accepts Aaron's paw hesitantly. "My name is Leo."

"Then Leo." The fox smiled at him. "Why are you staying alone like that ? Don't tell me you have a good reason, no one has good reasons for that."

He did not know why, but Leo instinctively felt he could trust him, like there was a benevolent aura around Aaron. He wanted to tell him everything, but his mouth simply refused to open.

"I'll start with myself, maybe it'll help you to talk," the Fox smiled patiently.

"I knew I was gay when I was 13. I thought about it for several months before deciding to tell my parents, and I finally did it the following year when I was 14. What I didn't know at the time was that my father was homophobic; and my mother didn't know that either." He took a pause to let that sink in.

"My father decided to make my life a living hell. But I had no idea that he would go so far as to warn the students of my college. From that day on I had no place to hide and my number of friends drastically reduced. It is always in this kind of moment that true friends, and others, are revealed."

"He couldn't stand the idea of having a gay man under his roof, so one day, when I was sleeping, my father tried to..." He trailed off, then collected himself and took a deep breath.

"My mother quickly knocked him out, and then called the police. My father was put in jail and was released last year for good behaviour after only five years in prison but with a ban on approaching us. When my mother learned about this, she decided to move to another country so he couldn't find us as a precaution. And that's how I end up here."

Leo was stunned. A whirlwind of questions jostling in his mind but the most important was probably... "How ? How do you talk about it so easily ?"

"Easily ? It wasn't easy. It took me a few years to accept what happened that day and be able to talk about it. So I could understand if you're not able to talk." He smiled at him.

"You could be anti-social, or something similar. But I've seen you talking to people since last week, so that's not it. So I know you lived like me. Something similar, but at the same time completely different."

Leo replied several seconds later. "I... I've been harassed about my physique... just because I'm small for a wolf... And white. Also because I'm gay..." He told him slowly.

"And you're afraid that will happen again, right ?"

Leo simply nodded in response as Aaron put a paw on his shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leo explained to Aaron the dream he had and shared his bad feeling.

Aaron thought as he pinched his chin. "Um, I'm not sure what to tell you. But your husky is right, try not to think about it, it's probably nothing."

"MY husky ?" Leo chuckled.

"You seem to be close to him and I often see you together. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before you're together."

"I don't even know if he's gay. Or even bi."

"Did you ask him if he had ever had a girlfriend ?"

"Not really, no." He said, scratching his neck with a paw. "He's never really talked about himself."

"Then ask him, it will be a good start." He smiled at him as Leo nodded energetically.

"Thank you, Aaron." He smiled as Mr. Blake entered the stage below to begin his class.

After two hours, the bell rang signaling the end of the class. Several students left the room before Theo saw Leo coming out, accompanied by a fox he did not know.

"Leo !" Theo called him.

"I'll leave you, you've got something to ask him ! See you tomorrow." Aaron chuckled, nodding to Theo as he left.

The husky stared at the fox and then the wolf, looking confused by what just happened. "You want to ask me something ?"

"Oh, um, yes. But it can wait..." He blushed slightly. "Let's go see Mr. Blake."

"Okay, okay !" Theo chuckled as they went down to their teacher.

"Hello Mr. Blake, excuse us for bothering you, but we'd like to ask you something." Theo began, Mr. Blake turned around when he heard Theo's voice.

"Ah, hello Theo. How are you ? And you're... Leo, right ? Sorry, I always struggle with new faces." He said in his deep voice as he readjusted his glasses.

"All right, thank you sir." He replied as Leo nodded.

"Congratulations on your work Leo, it was pretty remarkable for a first evaluation." Mr. Blake smiled at him. Leo mumbled his thanks.

"About that, sir. Our request is for year-end work."

"I see." He thought for a few moments and nodded. "In view of your results, I will not object to that. However, before I accept I want you to be aware of something." He shrugged. "I'm more demanding about groups that ask themselves to work together."

They looked at each other for a few seconds before turning to their teacher.

"We understand." They answered together.

"In that case I'll write it right now." He turned around and wrote down their names on a sheet that already had several inscribed on it.

"Thank you, sir!" They smiled again and headed to the dining hall where Chris was waiting for them. Mr. Blake chuckled as he watched them leave.

Meanwhile, the rain had calmed down despite the few lightning flashes that lit up the dark sky from time to time.

They soon arrived, and greeted Chris before entering to eat.

"Sacha and Princess aren't with you ?" He asked about them, surprised by their absence.

"Sacha didn't have class today and Clara eats with her boyfriend." He explained that they each took a tray with their meal on it.

"I didn't know she had one."

"She only sees him when she goes to her parents on the weekends, and since he went to the city today, they decided to take advantage of it."

They placed their trays on a table as Leo's phone started ringing. He remained stuck on his phone for several seconds while it displayed 'Entering Call: France'.

"Leo ! Who is it ?" Chris's voice eventually pulled him out of his thoughts.

"It's... A French number."

What ? Strange, you should answer just in case." Leo nodded and exited the dining hall before returning a few minutes later, looking disturbed.

"What's wrong ? You seem weirded out..." Theo asked worried.

"Chris ?"

"What's going on ?" asked the Shiba, as he raised his water glass. "It looked important."

"It was the French embassy." said Leo neutrally. "My parents died in a car accident last night."

The shiba spit out the water he had in his mouth. "Are you kidding me !?"

"Chris ! I'm serious. You know very well that I'll never be able to laugh at this kind of subject, and you know why."

"Wait, you talk about Chris's parents ?" Theo asked him in shock.

"No, of course not." He answered him and shook his head. "Do you remember the day we met ? I told Sacha, Clara and you that I was adopted twice."

Theo simply nodded.

"Chris's parents were the second to adopt me. Those who died are the first."

"I'm sorry Leo..."

"You don't have to be. The only reason they adopted me is because my adoptive mother was infertile, but they never really loved me. I'm beginning to understand why I dreamed of this day."

"Leo ! You want to talk about THAT day !?" He asked him, punching the table.

"Yes. Funny coincidence, right ?"

"I don't think it's funny Leo, I'm worried about you."

"I ask that you trust me Chris. I've already told Theo, and everything's fine."

"Did he really tell you everything ?" Chris turned to Theo.

"I think so. Why ?" Theo asked him, frowning.

"To be sure..." He sighed and turned to Leo, "If you trust him I do too," He said, taking up his glass again.

They ate with little further discussion, and by the time they left the dining hall, the rain had started gently falling again, while lightning had completely disappeared from the sky.

"By the way, Leo, that fox earlier said you have something to ask me. What is it ?" The husky turned to the wolf.

"What fox ? Looks like Leo is hiding things from us." The shiba smirked, while the wolf had begun to blush.

"Uh, yes. This fox's name is Aaron, and he's in my class..." Leo said, scratching his neck. "He lives in the city and he comes home all the time. So I didn't get to introduce him to you, but I wanted to do it."

"You don't have to justify yourself that much." Chris laughed.

"You might as well continue your confession, Leo !" Theo banged his fists on each other. "What do you have to ask me ?" He added, amused by the situation.

"Uh... Well... You haven't said much about you since we've known each other, so I wonder if you've ever had a relationship with anyone." He said shyly.

"That's true. You don't talk about yourself." Chris added to cover Leo, understanding where he was going.

"Well, if I didn't say anything it's just that I haven't had a busy life." He chuckled. "I could have had a boy or girl on a few occasions, but I never felt the need. Probably after college when I would have my diploma." He smiled at them before leaving them to go to the gym, greeting them.

"Leo ? You didn't notice anything in what he said ?" Chris turned to him and smiled.

"That he is not interested in someone at the moment ?" He sighed.

"Leo ! He said, 'boy or girl'. He is not closed to the idea of having a boyfriend." Chris chuckled as Leo began to smile stupidly.

"I'll be late if I don't go now. See you tonight, Leo." Chris said as he hurried off.

Leo returned to his room to drop off his bag before heading into the city to walk around.

He had a list in his mind of the important places he wanted to check out. Among them was the municipal library. It was in the center of the main city square, not far from the restaurant which he now went to regularly with his new friends.

There was also this bakery he discovered last week. He thought the cakes it made were delicious. He smiled as he passed by and couldn't resist buying one.

Leo decided to return to the dorm when the rain suddenly intensified and lightning and thunder returned to the sky. Once back, he dried himself off and lay down on his bed. He folded his arms under his head and looked at the ceiling, thinking back to his day.

The Wolf always had had this bad feeling. He was convinced that his dream and the death of his adoptive parents was no mere coincidence.

He just knew something much more serious was going to happen. But what ? When ? Could he stop it ?

He made the decision not to think about it too much. Maybe if there were anything to his theory, his dreams would give him some more clues like last night, right?

He turned to his bedroom window and looked at the sky. The rain came crashing down on his bedroom window as lightning zipped through the dark sky and thunder rumbled. He thought it was a beautiful show.

He slowly closed his eyes and fell asleep, not hearing his phone ringing which he'd left in the pocket of his jacket.

---

"Leo ! LEO !? Are you here ?"

He was awakened a few hours later when he heard someone knocking on his door.

"Yes... I'm on my way..." He says slowly, not recognizing the voice. His mind was still clouded by his recent sleep and went to open the door to his room.

"Chris ? What are you doing here ?" He shook his head slightly and rubbed his eyes to help him wake up before drinking a glass of water.

"Thank God you're here. You weren't answering your phone, I'm starting to worry."

"Sorry, I fell asleep after coming home from my walk."

"It's okay it doesn't matter, it's ok." He smiled, looking reassured.

"I asked you to trust me, no ?"

"I know, but you know me. I can't stop worrying about you. Even more with what happened today."

"Chris. I'm not a child anymore you know..." He chuckled at Chris.

"Well, even if we don't have a blood link, I'm technically your big brother. And it's normal for a big brother to worry about his little brother." He chuckled with him.

"Silly brother-dog." He smiled at him and looked at his phone and was slightly surprised. "Three calls and five messages in three hours ! What justifies such harassment ?" He said theatrically, smiling at Chris.

"I need to know something important Leo." He shrugged.

"Today at lunch, Theo said you told him everything about that day. Did you also tell him you're gay ?"

"No Chris, I didn't tell him, I deliberately forgot that. And I'm far from ready to tell him and has anyone else." He sighed. "Why is it so important ?"

Chris sighed. "I don't want to repeat the same mistake I made on the first day."

"I told you it didn't matter, they didn't take it badly and that's all that matters."

"Yes, I know... Well, do you want to eat pizza tonight ? I'm the one who invites."

"Already ? It's only 5 p.m. you know..." He chuckled "I think I'll revise a little before. Are you coming back for me around 7 p.m. ?"

"Okay, that's how we do it."

"Chris ? Do you mind if I invite someone else ?" He asks him with a smile.

"You want to invite Theo ?" He chuckled as he saw Leo blushed when he heard his name.

"No. I was thinking of Aaron, the fox. If he's free tonight."

"Well, you asked me to trust you, so I do it. See you later Leo." He said smiling to him before leaving his room.

As he came out of Leo's room, he saw William entered his own, looking in a hurry. Chris simply shrugged and left for his own room.

"It didn't go far." He huffed. "I didn't quite understand but it would seem that one of them is gay, and that they know Theo... I have to investigate."

The tiger chuckled for himself as a smirk appeared on his face.

In his room, Leo grabbed his phone and called his friend.

"Allo ?"

"Aaron ? Are you free tonight ?"

"Yes, why ?"

A smile appeared on Leo's face.