Kevin and Bob trudged back to their dorm, each taking a turn in the shower before changing into dry clothes.
Bob emerged in a white T-shirt and black pants, a towel draped over his head as he tilted this way and that, trying to work the stubborn water out of his ears.
“Hey, Kevin?” he started, his voice muffled by the fabric.
A note of worry crept in.
“We’re not…
going to get expelled on our very first day, are we?” Kevin was just pulling a fresh shirt over his shoulders.
At the question, he turned and pointed to his own chest.
“If anyone’s getting expelled, it’s me.
Not you.
You were the victim here.” His voice was low, but it carried an unshakeable calm.
“Relax.
Nothing’s going to happen.
They started it.” He paused, then fished the overstuffed wallet from his pocket and pressed it into Bob’s paws.
“Here.
Hold onto this for me.
Keep it safe.” Bob looked down and nearly dropped it, the wallet was so crammed with bills that the clasp strained to stay shut, bulging like a loaf of bread left too long in the oven.
He blinked his round, startled eyes.
“W-why me?” “My wallet has this weird habit of walking into other people’s pockets,” Kevin said with a shrug, a flicker of self-deprecation crossing his face.
“I’ve lost it more times than I can count.
It’s safer with you.” Bob clutched the heavy leather, feeling its cool smoothness against his palms.
They’d barely known each other for a day, and already Kevin was trusting him with this much money…
“Okay…
yeah.
I’ve got it.” He tucked the wallet carefully into the small pouch strapped across his chest, patted it twice, and checked one more time for good measure.
Once they were presentable, the two of them set out across campus, weaving along the tree-lined paths until they reached the Student Council office.
The door swung open to reveal a bright, spacious room, afternoon light poured through floor-to-ceiling windows, warming the polished wood floors to a honeyed glow.
Posters from past events dotted the walls, and potted ferns sat in the corners.
Simple, but clearly maintained with care.
Victoria was already there, holding court by the window.
Her clique of friends clustered around her like a protective barrier.
The alpaca behind her wore a crooked bandage across her face; the moment she spotted Kevin and Bob, she shot them a venomous glare.
Victoria’s own face was still swollen, but she sat with studied composure in the center of her group, one leg crossed over the other, her paw tapping a lazy rhythm against the tabletop.
Her chin was lifted.
Waiting.
Behind the main desk sat Kana, a gray wolf with sharp features and an even sharper gaze.
The Student Council President.
She was flipping through a document, but looked up as they entered and gestured with a flick of her chin toward the two empty chairs opposite her.
The chairs were a little high off the ground.
Kevin hopped up easily, then bent down, grabbed Bob under the arms, and hoisted him onto the neighboring seat like a small, bewildered otter.
Bob settled in, legs swinging, paws folded neatly over his knees.
The sight of them seemed to rekindle Victoria’s bravado.
She tilted her head, grazed her swollen cheek with a delicate touch, and let out an exaggerated hiss of pain.
“Ow, that stings!” Her voice was shrill, deliberately drawn out, echoing through the quiet room like nails on glass.
Kana surveyed the scene, a flicker of weariness in her eyes.
She let out a soft breath.
“Victoria, you were in the wrong here…” “Ow, it hurts!” Victoria cut her off, squeezing her eyes shut.
When she opened them again, they were rimmed with red, glistening like overripe grapes.
The other council members, mostly herbivores, shifted uncomfortably, their gazes drifting toward Kevin and Bob with a mixture of sympathy and reproach.
From where they sat, that carnivore, the lean white wolf with his sharp claws and muscle, looked perfectly capable of inflicting exactly the kind of damage they were accused of.
“Maybe what they did was out of line,” a hulking wild boar stepped forward, his voice a gravelly rumble, “but putting that aside, you still laid a paw on them.
Students shouldn’t be solving their problems with violence, am I right?” Kana’s brow furrowed, but before she could speak, Kevin cut in.
“We can’t put that aside.” His voice was flat, devoid of heat.
“They dumped a tray of food on my friend’s head.
They soaked me, too.
What was I supposed to do?
Get down on my knees and beg for forgiveness?” He pulled out his phone, screen already lit.
“Here’s an idea.
Let’s call the cops.
Let’s see what they think.” “Wilson.” Kana’s voice cracked like a whip.
The boar, Wilson, flinched, his massive shoulders hunching, ears drooping flat against his skull.
“Fine.
I’ll shut up now.” He retreated to the corner without another word.
Kana pressed her fingers to her brow, massaging the tension there.
When she spoke again, her tone had softened.
“Let’s find a reasonable compromise.
You’re all new students, do you really want a disciplinary mark on your records over something this petty?” She looked between Kevin and Bob, a note of genuine negotiation in her gaze.
“Let’s everyone take a step back…” “We…
we can’t.” The voice was quiet, fragile, but it cut through the room with surprising clarity.
Kana turned.
Bob had raised his paw tentatively, like a nervous student answering a question in class.
When he caught her eye, he flashed an uneasy smile, two rows of neat, small white teeth, and his paw trembled slightly.
But then his eyes drifted to Kevin, and something hardened in his round eyes.
His back straightened.
“I didn’t do anything to them.
They just…
dumped their food on me for no reason.” He clutched the fabric of his pants, knuckles white, but his voice grew steadier with each word.
“Kevin only stepped in to protect me.
And he got hit too, you know.
He’s a victim just as much as I am.” Kana studied him for a long moment.
The faintest twitch tugged at the corner of her mouth.
She swallowed whatever she’d been about to say and turned back to Victoria.
“Fine.
You’ll pay for Bob’s clothes.
And you’ll apologize to him.” “What?!” Before Victoria could respond, the alpaca behind her bristled, ears pinned back.
“We got hurt too!
Look at my face!” She jabbed a hoof at the bandage, her voice climbing with indignation.
“We’re the ones bleeding here!” Kana’s ears flattened.
Her tail lashed once against the chair leg.
She inhaled slowly, deliberately, then fixed her gaze on Kevin.
“Kevin.
I’ll have Victoria apologize to Bob.
I acknowledge that they started it.
But you did hurt them.
If this gets escalated, it won’t reflect well on you either.” She softened her voice, layering on a few more placating notes, and laid out the compromise: Victoria would cover the cost of Kevin and Bob’s ruined clothes and offer an apology.
Kevin, in turn, would cover Victoria and the alpaca’s medical bills.
Both sides would walk away.
“Fine.” Kevin spread his paws wide.
“Bob.
Cash.” “Oh!
Right.” Bob fumbled with the pouch on his chest, unzipping it with a soft hiss.
He handed over the bulging wallet.
Kevin took it, fingers gliding over the thick wad of bills with practiced ease.
He counted out two thousand, one thousand for Victoria, one thousand for the alpaca, and slid the notes across the table.
The office went utterly still.
The white wolf had peeled off the cash like he was buying a bottle of water, not a single flicker of hesitation in his eyes.
Victoria and the alpaca stared at the bills in stunned silence, the edges still warm from the wallet’s interior.
‘Just…
like that?’ “Now,” Kevin said, “you still owe me for my clothes and pants.
Five thousand.” The words hit the room like a stone dropped into a still pond.
Victoria snapped out of her daze, eyes flying wide.
“Five thousand?!
What are you wearing, designer suits?!
You’re just trying to pick a fight!” Kevin said nothing.
He simply tilted his head and met Kana’s gaze.
Gray and white.
Two wolves, eyes locked across the table.
Kana’s claws drummed against the desk, thump, thump, thump, a slow, deliberate rhythm.
She was reassessing him, peeling back layers, searching for the angle.
Something about this white wolf didn’t add up.
He was too calm.
Too prepared.
“Forget it.” Kevin broke eye contact and pulled out his phone again.
Kana’s expression went cold.
Whatever happened, it would happen here, under her control.
If this spilled beyond these walls, the situation would spiral.
“I’m calling my dad,” Kevin said, looking up with a faint smile that revealed just a hint of canine.
“What, can’t a kid check in with his family?” Kana snorted, settling back into her chair, but her tail remained rigid, bristling at the tip.
Victoria’s heart was hammering now.
She watched Kevin’s unreadable face with growing unease, she had a sinking feeling that this white wolf was playing a much deeper game than she’d anticipated.
She’d pegged him as rich from the moment they met, but Zootopia University was full of rich kids.
She’d seen it all before.
The call connected.
Mr.
Big’s voice came through the speaker, low and steady: “Kevin.
Did something happen?
Did you forget something at home?” “Just a minor hiccup.” Kevin’s tone was almost casual, recounting the incident with clinical precision, no embellishment, no dramatics, just the bare facts laid out in an even monotone.
On the other side of the room, Victoria and the alpaca were already working Kana, one sniffling pitifully, the other pointing at her bandage and rambling about trauma.
Kana ignored them entirely.
She crossed to where Bob sat and crouched down, lowering her voice so only he could hear.
“Bob.
Can you talk to your roommate?
You’re all new here.
It’s in no one’s best interest if this keeps escalating.” Bob rubbed at his eyes, his voice coming out muffled.
“I know…
but I can’t really do anything.
Kevin’s just…
young.” He looked up, and there was a strange sincerity in his gaze.
“Biologically speaking, only adult animals have fully developed emotional control.
Kevin’s only thirteen.
He’s smart, but it’s natural for him to be impulsive sometimes.
Who hasn’t made mistakes at thirteen?” ‘Thirteen?’ Kana’s ears shot straight up, then slowly flattened.
Her face remained impassive, but the temperature in her eyes dropped several degrees.
The pieces were clicking into place now.
This white wolf’s family must have donated a building, maybe two, to get a child into Zootopia University.
Refusing to compromise.
Immediately calling his parents.
It was textbook rich-kid entitlement, and her last shred of patience was fraying fast.
Kevin hung up.
Kana rose from her crouch like a spring uncoiling, whoosh, sudden, fluid, predatory.
She crossed to Victoria and the alpaca in three swift steps, snatched the bills from their nerveless paws, and thrust them back into Kevin’s hand.
“You’re even,” she said, her voice dropping to an icy rasp.
Her tail had bristled to twice its normal size, hackles raised along her spine.
She grabbed Victoria and the alpaca by their arms, her grip like iron, and dragged them across the room to where Bob sat.
“Apologize.” The sudden ferocity of her command hit them like a physical blow.
They froze, cowed, and mechanically bent at the waist, voices quivering in unison: “S-sorry…” Bob offered a squinty-eyed smile, waving his paw with small, forgiving motions.
“It’s okay, really…” The landline on the desk erupted in a piercing shriek, slicing through the heavy silence.
Kana’s head snapped toward it.
She crossed the room in three quick strides and snatched up the receiver.
“Hello?
…
Yes.” She listened, her brow knotting tighter with every passing second.
“But–” A pause.
“Understood.” She hung up.
When she turned back to face the room, her expression had gone ashen.
“Victoria.” The name came out clipped, each syllable a separate blow.
“You will apologize to Kevin.
And you will pay for his clothes.
That’s the final word.” “WHAT?!” Victoria’s head shot up, her voice cracking.
“I’m the one who got beaten up!
This is a complete joke!” “This is the school’s decision.” Kana held out the receiver, her paw hovering over the dial pad.
“The Dean’s office is on speed dial.” The silence that followed was absolute.
You could hear the slow, deliberate tick-tock of the wall clock counting out each painful second.
Bob’s jaw hung loose, his round eyes fixed on Kevin in slack-jawed astonishment.
Kevin was outwardly calm, but inwardly he was just as bewildered, he hadn’t expected Mr.
Big to call the Dean.
Victoria’s face went pale, drained of all color.
Her lips parted and closed, parted and closed, but no sound emerged.
Finally, she walked stiffly toward Kevin, her wool trembling with each hesitant step, and bent into a bow.
“I-I’m sorry…
For all the trouble I caused.
I’ll…
I’ll do better in the future.” She fumbled in her bag, scrawled a number on a sticky note, and pressed it into his paw.
“This is how you can reach me.
I’ll have the money for you in a couple of days.” Then she straightened, spun on her heel, and fled.
Her friends trailed after her like gray-faced ghosts, the door clicking shut behind them.
Bob’s jaw was still hanging open.
He stared at Kevin, round eyes wide as dinner plates, his earlier shock now compounded tenfold.
He’d known Kevin’s family had influence.
He hadn’t known it stretched all the way to the Dean’s office.
“We should…
we should probably get going too.” Bob finally found his voice, flashing Kana a quick, sweet smile and waving his paw.
He tugged at Kevin’s sleeve, ready to make their escape.
“Wait.” Kana’s voice stopped them both in their tracks.
Kevin turned, one eyebrow raised.
“Something else, president?” Kana walked over until she stood directly in front of him, half a head taller, looking down with eyes like winter steel.
“Kevin.
You’re thirteen.
Right?” “Uh…
yes.” “I know you come from money.” Her voice wasn’t loud, but each word landed like a hammer blow.
“But let me make something clear, this is Zootopia University.
However you got in, I hope you’re here to study, not to stir up trouble.
Because if your grades fall short and you end up getting kicked out…” A thin, cold smile curved her lips.
“Now that would be embarrassing.” Kevin understood.
Bob understood too.
‘The prejudice in people’s hearts is a mountain,’ Kevin thought.
‘The abnormal ones are few…
and yet they’re the only ones I seem to meet.’ For a moment, Kevin stood perfectly still.
Then, unexpectedly, his face broke into a wide, guileless smile.
Bright.
Warm.
Utterly disarming.
“Mm-hmm!
Thank you so much, president.
I really owe you one today.
I’ll have to treat you to dinner sometime as thanks.” The transformation was so complete, so seamless, that Kana found herself momentarily speechless.
She stared at the white wolf in front of her, struggling to reconcile this cheerful, grateful freshman with the sharp-edged predator who’d threatened to call the cops not ten minutes ago.
Her mouth opened, but the words died in her throat.
Kevin seemed oblivious to her confusion.
He stepped forward, took her paw in his, and gave it a quick, friendly shake.
Kana flinched, yanking her hand back like she’d touched a live wire, her face twisting with instinctive disgust.
He grabbed the still-dazed Bob by the arm and hustled them both out the door before Kana could recover her voice.
————•★•————★ Author Note: Thanks for reading!
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