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--Fen--

That last weekend was the longest I'd ever experienced. I couldn't motivate myself to do much more than mull over what'd happened on Friday. What's weird is I couldn't figure out just why it bothered me so much. I'd already accepted that things between Naki and I wouldn't work out or, at least, I thought I had. My alarm rings and I lift my head slowly to peer at the clock, seeing red numbers flash before my face. It's seven in the morning on Monday, time to go back to school. I work myself out of bed and do my morning routine, making it downstairs with time to eat and make it to the bus stop without rushing.

"Feelin' alright?" Sian asks just as I make it to the corner to wait.

"Yea, I'll get over it. Just kind of... I don't know. Maybe I wasn't entirely over him... Or maybe it was his reasoning. We can't even be friends anymore at this point. He's afraid people will talk about us." I grumble. "Meh, I'll get over it. I knew it wasn't going to work out and I just... just let myself go too far. You were right, Sy..."

"Well, to be fair, he's under some pressure. Maybe if that weren't the case then it would've gone further," He says, likely in an attempt to console me. It works a little, and I give a weak nod.

"Maybe."

The bus pulls up and we get on. I recall that Naki and I aren't to be seen together so I'll have to avoid going to the pool today. While settled next to Sian I start to wonder just what I'd do in the time before classes. The time I'd been using to practice swimming. Maybe I should go anyway and just ignore Naki? I don't like that thought. I don't want to be in an awkward situation today. I resolve to follow Sian, at least I'll have someone to talk to.

Days begin, days end; the week slowly returns to normal as I continue to push Naki out of my mind and come to terms with the fact that whatever friendship we had is likely done. There will be others, maybe the next will be a micro. That'd make things a hell of a lot easier. I see Sam several times that week, but only on Thursday do I bother to tell her to stop talking about Naki and I. She apologized profusely but I found myself caring little about what she'd done at that point. Maybe I was the fool for believing something might come of me and the otter.

The end of the school day marks our last day of practice and, as usual, Ian is late while Sian, Sam, and I sit around in Ian's parents' garage.

"I think we're actually ready." Sian laughs. "For the first time we're not scrambling to get things done at the last minute."

"You sure it's alright, Fen? I still feel bad... I didn't want to cause a break-up or anythin--" Sam starts only to be interrupted by me

"There's nothing to break up anyway, we weren't dating. It was a little crush and I should be over it..." I state, both Sam and I ignoring Sian much to the raccoon's amusement.

"Fen'll find another norm to crush on, there're plenty of'em." The raccoon speaks up.

"I don't need a norm to crush on." I grumble a little, trying not to let myself sink back into a mood. "It's fine, Sam. It's not even the fact that I liked him that's bothering me now. I just hate how it had to end because of how others would look at it. That's all. It's a gay issue not an issue with him being straight."

"Well, alright. If there's anything I can do, though, let me know." The mouse-girl sighs and plays with her tailtip a little.

"Hey guys, hey babe." Ian states as he walks in, looking between us for a while. "Huh, must've been talkin' about Naki, eh?" Ian chuckles and I wave my paw through the air dismissively. "Not anymore, we're finishing this last practice in prep for prom."

I take my position with Ian and Sy. Sam is still content to watch and simply sits to watch us practice our line-up.

As we go through the routine we made up I can't help but feel we've got it down. Everything is smooth down to the very energy we create while playing. I feel much better as I sing to the imaginary crowd before me, imagining students dancing, talking, and having fun while we set the mood. By the end of our practice, I feel great again.

Sam apologizes again and I smile at her. "It's fine, I'm over it. I'll see you two Monday, alright?" I move to give the mouse a hug, squeezing her back and pressing my chest to hers. "No hard feelings."

She gives a weak nod and a smile. "Thanks, Fen. I'll make it up to you someday."

"Make sure you're on time Monday night, Ian." I nudge at him before we bump fists.

"Yea, yea, lay off." He grins and wraps his arm around Sam while Sy and I walk off.

"We should go tomorrow. You've gone to every other, so why should this be different?" Sian asks as we walk from practice towards our homes just as we always do.

"Well, I dunno. I don't want to bother him or anything... As much as I hate what he did I know he's probably just stressed."

"But you -want- to see the championship, don't you? You've been looking forward to it all spring. It'll be me and you, we'll come in to see them swim, then we'll leave to avoid anything awkward."

"I guess." I smile a little. I couldn't help but feel a little excited after that practice. I could see Naki swim tomorrow and, after that, we'd make our final appearance at the school. The perfect way to wrap things up. A twinge of something... stressful still weighed on my heart but I try to brush it away. It's the end of the year, I'm graduating. Everything will be fine, I tell myself.

--Naki--

"You alright, Naki?" Samson asks, head popping out of the water as he finishes another round of practice laps in the short pool. I pant a little, clinging to the metal rim of the pool and giving a nod. "Yea, I'm fine." I heave, though it's really not entirely true. Despite it having been three days since I effectively told Fen to leave me alone I couldn't get it off my chest. That disappointed look in his eyes as he stared out of the window keeps flashing around in my head.

"Alright, you just seem off is all." The beaver shrugs as our coach, a muskrat, blows his whistle and begins to shout in his shrill voice for all to hear.

"Not bad! But not good enough yet, boys. We have to be in -top- shape if we plan to win this, so we're going to stay a little longer tonight. Get ready, we're doing another ten laps. A pool this length is about half as long as the one we'll be competing in so if you can't make ten laps here you won't make more than four there."

We all prepare again and I try to suppress my exhaustion while waiting for the coach's whistle. It'd all be worth it in the end, I hope. We'll take the championship and I'd finally graduate with my head held high. 'You'd better make something of it after forcing Fen away for such a dumb reason.' my inner-voice is quick to remind me.

*WHISTLE* "GO!"

--

"Uuughh, why work us for an extra hour? My legs feel like putty." Samson whines, drying off and getting his clothes back on after our extra laps. "Maaann, we're not gonna be in any condition to compete if this is what things'll be like for the rest of the week."

I'm inclined to agree, everything hurts. "Yea, well, we only have one more day of practice before it's over so let's just focus on Friday. We need this win, Samson, it's our last year." I remind him.

"Yea, yea; I know..." The beaver waves a paw.

We go to wait near the football locker-rooms for Motley since the football team's off-season practice follows the same schedule as ours. Of course Brad comes out before Motley does, for once, and sees me and Samson.

"Where's your boyfriend, Naki?" He asks with a grin, I can see Samson roll his eyes but I just shrug it off. "Not in the mood, Brad. Take the halitosis somewhere else."

"Ohhh~, good one. Come up with it all by yourself?" Another voice speaks up, a german shepherd standing next to Brad holding a football. "He's only askin' a simple question, where's your wolf, otter?"

I frown now, wondering if Brad -actually- knew what'd happened. I'm quick to remind myself that it doesn't matter either way. "You two make a really nice pair." I smile at the shepherd.

Brad simply smirks and shrugs off my comment. "You can't hide it anymore, Naki. The whole school already knows about your morning swims with that LGBT queer."

"Pfft, you believe that?" Samson steps in, crossing his arms. "Actually, nevermind. Know what? If we're talking about rumors, let's talk about how you're -still- trying to get in bed with the same girl, huh? Desperate much?"

"Is that the only insult you can come up with?" Brad laughs. "Yea, fine, Loraine's a hard catch. I'll get her, though... And I'll show 'er what a -real- man does in bed." He stares at me, his grin only widening. I can feel anger rising in my chest; adrenaline pumping, heart-rate climbing. I struggle to keep from clenching my fists and growling, last thing I could do here is show a rise. Brad would only profit on it.

"It's still hard to believe you got that far and chickened out." The dog next to Brad remarks with a laugh.

"Both of you need to gr--"

"Comeon, Naki. These two are a waste." Samson interrupts me, tugging at my hand and moving to walk around Brad who reaches out at Samson only to have his hand pushed out of the way by a familiar-looking badger.

"Are we havin' a problem here, Brad? These are my friends; you got a problem with them, you got a problem with me." Motley grins. The badger might be shorter than Brad, but he's quite a bit stockier, and I'd bet his punches would hurt more than the lion's. I'm more happy than usual to see him. A moment ago I wasn't sure of what was going to happen.

"Nothin', we were just askin' Naki about his boyfriend." Brad smirks. "Comeon, Larry, let's get out of here." He turns to leave and the dog, apparently named Larry, walks off with him. "Later, Naki." He chuckles, sweeping a handpaw lazily in the air in some sort of mock-wave.

"Just can't stay outta trouble, can ya?" Motley chuckles, holding his paw out. We slap paws and grasp in a handshake. "Yea, well, you know me," I grumble. "Seems like I just can't glide by at all this month. Almost done, though. No more Brad after next week."

"Yea..." Motley sighs. "Don't remind me about finals again, please." He cringes a little and I laugh.

"You'll be fine, let's go get a bite to eat. I'm famished."

"Why're you still practicing anyway? Aren't you a senior too, Motley?" Samson asks while we walk to my car.

"Yea, I'm just gonna miss the old field. Don't think I'll make it in college, to be honest... And I don't know if I want to. Time to buckle down and get serious about what I'm gonna do with my life, y'know? I don't think football is it so I'm just enjoyin' the last little bit of it I can."

"You make it sound so romantic," I say with a chuckle as we get into the car and drive to a nearby restaurant, Illy's. It's a low-tier restaurant chain with some decent burgers, which is all we can afford anyway. It's crowded for a Monday, but we're seated quickly enough.

We settle in and I sigh, leaning back after a hard day. All I want now is to coast through 'til bedtime.

"So about this thing with Loraine and that wolf..." Motley begins, causing me to look at him.

"What wolf?" I ask, trying to act like I don't know what he's talking about. Honestly, the question I really wanted to ask was how he and everyone else seemed to know about Fen. I thought I'd crushed that over the weekend.

"You don't haveta lie to me, Naki." He grumbles. "Some girl Brad's been wooing has been spilling it all to him before practice. That and you've just been actin' real weird lately. Something's going on."

"How do you mean weird? What've I been doing?"

Motley shrugs, it seems like he's trying to be nonchalant about it but he's failing. "Lettin' Brad get to you earlier today, breaking up with Loraine all of a sudden, not telling us about this guy you've been hanging out with every morning."

"How do you know that's not just a rumor?" I say, though I'm feel less in the mood to struggle at this point.

"I don't, but tell me it isn't true. I'll drop it if you do." Motley's gaze settles on mine and I hesitate for a moment.

When I don't answer quickly enough Samson looks at me. "So this isn't all a big rumor? There's some truth to it?"

"Yea, there some truth to it." I finally admit. "Only as far as I was swimming in the mornings with a wolf named Fen. There's nothing to it, really. He was a nice guy I met and he kept me company while I practiced." I shrug a little bit.

"Then why not just say that?" Motley asks, smirking. "Why even let them pretend you've got the hots for him or something."

"They wouldn't believe me anyway." I dodge the question.

"I guess." Motley shrugs.

"Why not introduce him to us?" Samson asks just as the waitress comes over to take our drink and food orders. Afterwards, I just look at him and shrug. "Well, I dunno. We only met in the mornings, guess I didn't see the point. What's with the curiosity anyway? You don't actually -believe- the other rumors, right?"

Motley simply stares for a while, then leans back and shrugs again. "I dunno, man. The Loraine thing, you didn't say anything about this Fen guy... He -is- gay. You even tried to brush it off as if you didn't know who he was a moment ago. Somethin' doesn't add up is all I'm saying."

Samson looks at Motley for a moment, then back to me. Apparently, Motley had been thinking about it harder than Samson, who seemed more along for the ride at this point.

"What do you want me to say?" I ask, having grown weary of the conversation.

He stares at me for a while, then leans forward, interweaving his fingers while settling his elbows, forearms, and clasped paws on the table. "The truth." He says simply, staring at me evenly. "We've been buds since elementary, Naki. I'd fight Brad and the rest of the team any day b'cause we're friends like that, but I'm not gonna defend you if I'm not certain of what I'm defending you for. Either I've got your back because they're talking shit, or I've got your back because it ain't your fault you like cock."

I'm more than a little taken aback by what he says. I'm actually not certain of whether I should be relieved or not.

"...Yea, well... I got your back too, Naki. Even if you're, you know..." Samson says while rubbing behind his head a little, eyes locked on my face, likely looking for a hint as to what I'm about to say. I imagine my face is blank, as that's exactly how I feel inside as my two closest friends back me into a corner.

"Look, guys..." I start, frowning and moving a paw up to rub my headfur backwards. I don't know if I should just tell them the truth or a lie... Would they actually have my back? Would they spread the rumors even more?

"It's true, then." Motley says suddenly, snapping my attention to his sharp gaze.

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't say anything, Naki. Comeon, which is it?"

"Why do you want to know so badly?"

"Why are you hesitating?"

I frown and the waitress sets our drinks down before walking off again. I play with the water on the side of the glass before lowering my gaze.

"I dunno, really. I like Fen... More than I've ever liked a guy before. I dunno what it is, really." I say truthfully. I'd only entertained the idea of being gay, I couldn't come to accept it... not yet. How could I be sure? This could easily be a phase.

"So you like him? That wolf?" Samson asks and I give a weak nod.

"Yea, well... I dunno if it'd work out after last weekend anyway."

The table is quiet for a while before Motley pipes up again. "What happened?"

"I told him to leave me alone last weekend, didn't want people talking about me anymore. It's bullshit," I say, frowning. "Who cares so much anyway? One screw-up with a girl and suddenly the entire school thinks they can just stay in my business."

Motley stays quiet for a little while longer before grinning and giving a hard nod. "Meh, they're all a bunch of assholes anyway. Look, man, I told you... I got your back no matter what, right? B'sides, with you out of the game there'll be more girls for me."

I can't help but grin a little despite my bad mood. I shift uncomfortably but, eventually, chuckle out loud and stare at him. "You're screwed in the head if that's all you're worried about."

"What else should I be worried about?" He laughs with me. "Secret is safe, no worries about that."

Samson seems in agreement. "Yea... I don't get it, but if that's the way you are then I don't have a problem with it. Just don't let it get to your head for the championships."

I look between the two for a moment, shivering subtly from the adrenaline rush that'd hit me during our conversation. I'm starting to feel relieved but, at the same time, I'm still stressed over all of this. Am I really gay?

"Thanks guys..." I watch the waitress set our food down before looking back to them again. "It... it means a lot."

The rest of our dinner goes a bit more smoothly since we stop talking about my relationship with Fen. It's funny when I think that such a small event early last week could have turned everything upside down so quickly. At the same time, perhaps due to Samson and Motley being okay with it, I couldn't help but feel worse about what I'd done to the wolf.

I brush it off for the rest of the week, or try. Every now and then I see him in the hallway between classes and smile, hoping he sees it, just to let him know I'm not mad... or something. Practice is normal except coach works us until our limbs are ready to fall off all of the way until Wednesday; two days before the championship.

The day before the championship, Thursday, I'm a bit distracted with what's going to happen tomorrow. Classes seem to creep by despite my lack of attention. Samson and I talk about what could happen and the various swimmers from the Taers and other schools. Motley joins our conversation despite knowing little. Mostly asking about which events we're in and where he should sit if he comes.

Even when I sit with my family at the dinner table that evening I'm fairly distracted, staring off into space. My dad landed a job a day or two ago so we were eating a bit better than we had been for a while.

"It's a good thing it happened, that registration-stuff on the news earlier is going to make finding those little guys even more of a pain." My dad says, peering at my mom whom nods.

"We're blessed. We should all be thankful for our prayers paying off when they did." My siblings and I just nod at that while stuffing our faces full of the casserole she'd made. Despite my thoughts I do ponder what my dad meant by registration, but Nate gets to asking before I do.

"What's registration?" I cease my thoughts to listen and look to my father.

He'd just taken a large bite of casserole so he swallows it before answering. "Ohhh, just something the government is doing with micros. It was on the news this afternoon, big announcement by the Prime Minister."

"What're they going to do?" I ask, taking another bite.

"I didn't see the entire story, but it's because of that thing with those devices. Y'know, the micros that look like us. They want to find all of them, whether they're using those devices or not. I don't know how or what they're going to do but I assume it's going to make catching them a bit more tedious if you're not part of the gov."

"Yea, I bet they'll be more careful now." I reply, feeling a little bad despite never having met a micro... At least, not one that didn't end up in my stomach quickly enough. I'd never had anything against the them. To me, it seemed like nothing ever went their way if all the history lessons are true. I find myself wondering if I know any micros using... Cloakers? Yea, that's what they're called. What would I do if it turns out that one of my friends uses one?

--Fen--

"Registration? The hell is that?" I ask, giving a slight head-tilt. We're walking towards the school to see Naki and the swim team swim in the championship.

I can hear a sigh escape Sian's muzzle, which only makes me more curious.

"It was on the television last night," He replies. "They didn't give all of the details but, apparently, they're going to force us to tell them who we are. Y'know, we have to go give'em our names to aware them of our status as micros or something. My mom and dad are still deciding whether we're going to do it or not. Gonna be hard to avoid it, though. They can find us if we have our cloakers on, but without them we won't be able to attend school or move freely anymore. To top things off they don't just want those of us with cloakers, at least that's not what it sounded like. I think they want to register all micros. Every last one of us. It's only a matter of time b'fore they tell us what to do, I guess..."

A knot curls in my stomach but I try not to let it phase me outwardly. I see the school in the distance and yearn for a place to sit so that I can mull over this for a moment. Why didn't my parents mention it? Do they know?

"Wish they'd just leave us alone for once." I mutter a little, looking down at the sidewalk for a moment. "It's not like we're hurting anyone."

"Yea." Sian says evenly. "Well, no use in worrying about it yet." He grins, peering at me. "Championship today, right? We're gonna win it."

"Yea." I sigh a little, trying to push the news to the back of my head. We'd deal with it somehow, things will be alright... At least, I try to keep telling myself that. As we approach I notice a larger-than-normal turnout. I suppose the rivalry has sparked the interest of more people than normal. We fight through the crowd to find good places to sit and I nearly trip over a husky pup that's sticking his leg out into the crowd of people walking past, likely just trying to get a laugh.

Our seat ends up being about midway up the bleachers so we have a fabulous view of the pool Naki will be racing in. I idly look around to see if I can find him in the crowd of swimmers standing nearby the pool and preparing.

"There he is." Sian points, finger aiming at the otter standing next to the lane I presume he'll be racing in. I stare at him for a while, unable to help but smile a little bit despite the twinge of annoyance growing in my chest.

"Well, it should be starting soon. The officials are taking their spots and it looks like Naki is in the first heat," I say, twisting my head to see the Taers' star swimmer, a frog named Darrel Winston. I hear splashing and see Naki getting his fur wet in preparation for the match before he finally stands up to stare around at the crowd while taking deep breaths. I can feel his nervousness, knowing how much he's been wanting to win this before his high school career is over. His head stops when he sees me... Or, at least, I think he sees me. I don't do anything, feeling more awkward than I probably should. I start to break my gaze but he lifts a paw and waves, a smile appearing over his muzzle. I smile in return and give him a thumbs up.

"Aww, I thought you gave up on'em." Sian prods me and I shoot him a glare.

"I don't want him to lose, that's all." For whatever reason, the acknowledgement put me in a good mood and my tail flicks behind me to show it.

The swimmers take their places, four of them lining up. From left to right there's a muskrat named Mire, a dolphin I don't recognize, Naki, and Darrel. The officials take their places and the starter gets ready. I watch Naki relax and take on a focused expression; I love every second of it but hold my cheers back. The pistol fires and they're off. Naki starts a little later than the other three but he gains his rhythm before they do, diving beneath the water and gliding smoothly as his core muscles work to keep their form and propel him forward.

All four of them are even for the first 20 meters before Naki and Darrel pull ahead, with Darrel faster than Naki as I'd assumed. The frog is more than able to keep his lead even as they dive beneath, flip, and kick off to start the next part of the lap, Naki surfacing at this point to preserve energy. Swimming beneath the water is a bit more taxing. I curl my fingers along the edge of my seat and lean forward, praying Naki's stamina pays off here. He speeds up a bit, perhaps noticing that Darrel is moving too quickly but he's already swimming just about as fast as I've ever seen him. The other two, the dolphin and muskrat are falling further behind but staying within the competition. By the way the dolphin is swimming I'd say he'd biding his time and planning to burst when he's closer to the final lap, he's far too relaxed for that to be his max. Dolphins aren't slow by any stretch of the mind.

The second lap sees little action, with everyone holding their positions except that Darrel manages to get a bit more headway over Naki and the rest. Sian taps my shoulder to get me to relax and I try, but my eyes remain fixated on the lanes. "Comeon, Naki, just hold that speed and keep an eye on that dolphin..." I grumble to myself. The third lap, last lap before the final, starts with the dolphin finally showing his colors. His speed is terrible and I watch with an aching heart as he quickly closes the gap between him and Naki. At this rate he'd even pass Darrel and Naki would be third.

"Gnnn, dammit. Comeon Naki!" I finally shout, moving my hands in front of my muzzle so that my voice will carry, joining the cheers and shouts from the rest of the crowd.

"Naki! You gotta go faster! Faster!" I shout, watching the otter move and glide quickly. I can barely stand to watch as they enter the fourth lap and Naki is in third.

--Naki--

I'm surprised to see Fen here, I never thought he'd come after what I did. I was happy to see him if, perhaps, a little distracted with what I'd do to make things up... We could be friends, at least, I think. My attention snaps back to the competition when I hear his voice above the rest of the screams and peer to my left to see Uran, an up-and-coming sophomore dolphin swimmer from the third school we're competing with, Buvale. Samson's voice rings out next, "Dive! Dive Naki!" I hear him shout.

I focus and dive beneath the water to try and gather a little more speed but I don't manage to keep up with him, he's damn fast. My underwater swimming is my best but I have to adjust to it after swimming close to the surface. It requires a rhythm.

We start the last lap and I'm already feeling the ache of loss, wondering if there's any way I can bring this back. I recall what Fen said about Darrel and his stamina last week, and resolve to, at least, move as quickly as I can for this last lap. I stay beneath the water and force my muscles to work as hard as I can manage, the burning is starting to surface but I ignore it for now, focusing on trying to get second if I can't get first.

On the final stretch I notice Darrel slacking a little bit, swimming underwater from the beginning of the match is taking its toll on him and I quickly redouble my efforts to try and get ahead. I hear the clock stop for Uran just before I get to the wall, but I can't tell whether me or Darrel made it back first. I pull myself out of the water, heaving and looking backwards to see who made second and a grin spreads my muzzle when I see it's me. A wave of relief washes over and, with the help of a few teammates I get out of the water.

"Dude! Nice! You beat your record by 3 seconds. That Uran is one hell of a swimmer, but the guy following him in the next heat can't beat me. I'll win and we'll take home the event gold." Samson grins, holding a paw up.

I give him a high-five. "Yea." I heave a few more times. "Goodluck man, you'll do great," I grin back and he rushes to take his place. I didn't win the individual, but we can still win the event. As I walk back to take a seat and catch my breath I stare at Uran celebrating nearby the lane he swam in. He'd win the individual gold for the record unless someone in Samson's heat beats him. Part of me feels bad that I couldn't leave with the individual gold too, but, somehow, it didn't strike me as terribly as I thought it would.

The coach comes over and pats me on the back. "You did good, Naki. Nice way to end the year off." He fixes the glasses that sit on his greying muzzle. "That dolphin is fast, huh?" He grins.

"Yea, I was so focused on Darrel that I forgot about'em. He's gonna be hard to beat in the future." I say between breaths of air and the coach gives a nod.

"Yea, hopefully I can get Greg in shape to compete against him next year. Gonna be a pain. Anyway, you rest, almost time for the next heat. We can still take something home from this!" He ambles off to stand near Samson's lane and I stare up into the bleachers to try and find Fen again, grinning inwardly when I see him. I still can't believe he came after last weekend.

--Fen--

"Ooohh man..." I sigh, slouching in my seat a little and rubbing my fingers through my headfur. "How come I haven't heard of him? That dolphin is a damned rocket... At least Naki got second, maybe they can still win if Samson can take first this heat." I lean again, peering closely as the swimmers line up, ignoring Sian's snickering next to me.

"I swear it's almost like you're the one racing when you get like this. Look, you're already sweating!" He chuckles and I wave my paw to quiet him down.

"Shhh! It's starting!"

The beaver lines up with an otter from another school, an-- I blink a few times, noticing someone settling next to me and taking a glance before looking back at the pools.

"You must be Fen," The guy next to me says, catching my attention again. I stare at him for a moment; he's a rather stocky, powerful-looking badger.

"Yea, uh... Do I know you?" I ask, hearing the pistol sound and snapping back to attention. "Go, Samson!" I shout, raising my arms as the beaver gets off to a nice start. He's already ahead of everyone else.

"Nah, you don't know me. The name's Motley." He holds a rather large handpaw out at me and I reach to shake it, flicking my ears as his huge, black fingers engulf my hand. He gives a firm shake.

"Nice to meet you, Motley."

"Yea, you too. Nice ring." He says, twisting my paw gently and opening his fingers to peer at my cloaker. My fur raises a little bit and I feel Sian shift next to me. I forgot to put it on my tailbase this morning.

"Uh.. Thanks." I say, staring up into his green eyes for a moment.

"Yep." He lets go of my hand and I slowly come off of the small adrenaline rush that had started coursing through me.

"Well, this is my friend, Sian." I lean back and Motley grins, bringing that huge paw of his over to shake Sian's hand. The raccoon takes it. "Hey," he says, before twisting to look towards the pools again.

There's a pause after he shakes Sian's hand but, eventually, he decides to get to why he's so interested in me. "So you like Naki, I hear." He says with his baritone voice, eyes settled on me.

"Uh..." I shrug a little. "He's a good swimmer, but he's not the only one I'm here to see."

"Don't haveta cover up for him, little wolf." Motley shrugs, looking at the pools now. "I've been friends with him since we were 7, he told me all about the mornings. Not here to cause trouble for ya, either."

"Oh..." I say gently, a little more comfortable even if I didn't entirely believe him.

"We had some fun, I was a little interested but he's straight so I'm going to leave him alone. We already talked about it. Not much of a story, really." I shrug again, trying not to think about what happened last weekend and watching as Samson maintains his lead in the heat.

"I don't think it's all over." He folds his hands in his lap. "Not why I'm here, though. I wanted to tell you that you're probably on Brad's radar 'cause of what happened between you and Naki. Jerk'll do anything to bug him."

A frown comes over my face. I'd only heard things about Brad up until now, he mostly left me alone. I doubt he even knew who I was before, perhaps, now... If this badger is telling the truth.

"So, what?" I ask, not really wanting to be on this topic, especially not with someone I barely know.

"So keep your eyes open. He's still pissed about Naki stealing Loraine and giving him a verbal thrashing in front of the rest of the team a year or two back. If he tries something then he might go after you first. Half the school knows what happened between you and him now, after all."

"You're just trying to scare me." I grumble, now entirely annoyed with Motley. Whether he's Naki's friend or not, what makes him think I'd believe any of this?

"I'm just tellin' you, man." He says, "Naki likes ya, thought I'd make sure you know what's goin' on. That's all. B'sides that, there's another rumor floatin' around about you that I haven't mentioned to Naki yet. It involves that ring you're wearin'."

I shift somewhat, trying not to seem panicked or surprised. "What do you mean?" I ask him, trying to keep my voice steady. I can see Sian's head shift ever so slightly to get a discreet look at what Motley's doing. Does he really know? It takes a lot of work to keep from getting up and leaving right there.

"Just a rumor," he says, waving his paw calmly through the air. "Which is why I'm telling you to be careful." He smiles a little bit. "You gotta know what's going on around you to be ready for it. Anyway, looks like we're gonna win." He looks to the pools and I hesitantly follow his lead. Samson makes first place, giving us 7 points and the lead. They all begin to cheer and hollar below, and Naki's grin is enough to lift my heart a bit.

My happiness is, nevertheless, clouded by the notion that there are people that suspect me and, likely, Sian. I want to ask Motley more questions but I don't want to give away anything he may or may not know.

"Why would they be talking about my ring?" I press him, but he just shrugs.

"It's a rumor, Fen. If it's true, you know what it means. If it's not, then you don't have to worry. If it -is- true, though, Naki has to know." With that, Motley stands and starts to leave. "Nice to meet you both, I'll see you two at prom; lookin' forward to hearin' you play."

I watch, keeping my seat and remainig frozen there for a moment before Sian grasps my hand and tugs at me as he shifts past and into the crowd. People are cheering and leaving the bleachers to go congratulate swimmers and find their kids. Part of me wants to congratulate Naki but my head is scrambled from what just happened.

I follow Sian out, nervous for some reason. It's not like Motley did anything with the information... At least I don't think he has. If he wanted Sian and I he could've done it easily only moments ago.

Before long, Sian has us both out of the school and walking home. "What do you think that was about?" Sian asks with a frown, hands in his pockets.

"I dunno." I admit, finally starting to calm down. "He didn't do anything, though. Think he's on our side? I guess if he's Naki's friend then maybe he just wanted to help us out."

"But someone -knows-. Or... at least they've thought about it. What if... what if, you know..." He clenches his teeth. I understand the feeling; if there was anything worse than someone finding out about a cloaker it's not knowing who that someone is. So far, we only know that Motley might be on to us.

"We're almost done, Sian. Just one more week and it's all over. We'll just be careful and make sure we hide them properly... And remember what we have to do if someone does do anything, right? He mentioned Brad, so maybe some of the football team knows something. We'll have to be careful is all." I try to reassure him despite not feeling so comfortable myself. Last week of school and this happens? Figures.

We talk about Motley and Naki for the rest of the way home and I resolve to ask Naki about the badger next time I see him... After the weekend is over. I can only hope he'll be approachable now that the championships are over.

--Naki--

"GO Samson! GO! GO!" I shout, hardly able to contain my excitement. When he finally reaches the finish I jump into the air what must be ten feet... Or that's what it feels like. The team rushes forward to help the beaver out of the pool and I laugh, grasping at him to give a firm hug. "You did it! We won! We won!" I shout.

"Told you I would!" He beams, heaving and shining in all of the glory of our victory. The rest of the team, at least those who weren't about to swim in other events move to congratulate him and celebrate so I look up to see if Fen is as excited as I we are. I only catch a glimpse of him talking to... Motley. I furrow my brow as Motley stands to leave and, shortly after both a raccoon and Fen leave. I can't see their faces, but considering how much Fen wanted this victory, I can tell something is wrong. I think about slipping away but Samson's arm wraps about my shoulder and he tugs me over.

"Dude! Smile! We won!" He laughs and I resume grinning with him.

"Damn straight! You were a rocket!" I wrap my arm around him in return and pat his back again. "We gotta celebrate tonight or this weekend or something!"

"Hell yea!" Samson smirks.

The rest of the championship doesn't even matter to me. We do manage to grab first place in a few other events but I was really just too pleased with the fact that Samson and I took first place in ours. We go out with the rest of the team that night and let loose, laughing and making a ruckus in the restaurant but no one seems to care about how loud we are. I forget all about seeing Fen with Motley and it's not until the next day that I remember.

"We did as well as we could and still came home with something." I tell Motley over the phone saturday morning. "Uran received gold, I received silver and Samson bronze for the individual awards in our event. Our school received the gold for the overall event and Uran's school second. The Taers received the bronze."

"Nice, congrats man. Now you'll have a trophy sitting in the school trophy-case for everyone to remember ya by." He speaks in his normally deep tone.

"Yea, I still can't believe it's all over. Hey, yesterday I saw you with Fen. Did something happen? I mean, not that you did anything, but he looked bothered. What'd you guys talk about?" I ask, remembering the lackluster demeanor of the wolf right after we'd won.

"I was just warnin' him about Brad is all. Y'know, I'm not convinced he won't try to get you into a fight again before graduation. It's his last chance, after all and he knows what happened between you an' the wolf."

I cringe a little, that did sound like something Brad might try. I shift my cell phone against my ear so that it's a bit more comfortable. "Wish he'd just get over it, I'm not dating Loraine anymore." I grumble and Motley just chuckles.

"Yea, don't worry about it. I just wanted him to know what's goin' on is all, so Brad can't blindside him or something. He should be alright, he'll be with his band so maybe nothin' will happen. Are you gonna ask Fen to prom?"

I'm left quietly uncertain of how to answer the question, shifting on my feet and lowering my voice so my parents can't hear even if they wouldn't know what I'm talking about. "Uh... Well, I don't know if it's a good idea. I kinda tossed him under the bus last weekend. I'd feel like a jerk coming back just because things turned out better than I thought they might."

"Heheh, well, you're comin' even if you don't have a date. One last chance to party before highschool is over, right?"

I grin and nod. "Yea, I'll be there."

"Good. See you Monday, then!"

I hang the phone up and sigh. I really hope Brad doesn't do anything, especially if it'd involve Fen. Even so, my mood isn't easily dampened and I recover before too long. The end of the year would be great. Nothing could ruin it for me now. Not even Brad.