Raised by Lions

Chapter 11: A Taste

Louis yawned as he stared out at the courtyard of the mansion. He liked to watch the gang from time to time, perched above their heads on the balcony of the room he now called his own.

Ibuki had insisted Louis start having his own room, even if he didn't sleep there at night. So they cleaned out one of the spare rooms and put all Louis' belongings inside, toys, clothes, everything. He even had an en-suite bathroom.

The bed was small compared that of the lions, and had navy blue sheets on it. The brown carpet that covered the floor was soft, almost as if it was barely ever walked on and the walls were an off white colour. His clothes were in the closet and his toys and colouring stuff was littered around the floor, except for his old lion plushie, which sat on his bed by his pillows, staring at the wall. He refused to throw the old thing out, so it had a few patches of random fabric to keep it in one piece, courtesy of Sabu. Louis didn't know why the old lion could sew, but he didn't press on the matter.

He watched curiously from the balcony, as a young, unfamiliar face spoke to Sabu at the gates. He couldn't hear what they were saying, curse his herbivore ears, but he could see the younger lion wasn't one of them, at least not officially. He wasn't dressed in a suit, like the rest of the Gumi, and he looked too young, a baby face in a sea of dark brown fur. Louis silently thought the young lion looked kind of cute.

He relaxed a little when he heard shuffling behind him, knowing the familiar footsteps of his father. The large lion settled beside him, looking out at the others in the courtyard. Louis ventured the question, "Who's that young looking guy?" Ibuki hummed as he watched the dark furred kid scurry off with a brown package.

"One of Sabu's recruits. The kid is 16 and really just carting stuff around for us, for now at least. He's cute, but he doesn't seem cut out for the gangster lifestyle." Ibuki mused. Sabu had told him about the kid, reporting the boy's interest in joining them once he turned 18. In hindsight it seemed a little funny.

Louis hummed in response, taking a step back to stretch. "Is it time for lessons yet?" He asked quietly. As much as he didn't like having to sit and learn for several hours on end everyday most days, he also wasn't fully against it. He knew it was for the best, at least that's how his dad explained it.

Ibuki offered the fawn a smile, "That's exactly why I came to get you. Let's head to my office, kiddo." Louis nodded and followed the much bigger lion. He closed the doors to the balcony once they were inside and jogged to catch up to Ibuki as he exited the fawn's room.

The walk up a flight of stairs to reach the floor with Ibuki's office went fast. Louis had learned how to get up and down the giant stairs easier as the months ticked on.

He jumped into the chair he always used when in Ibuki's office and Ibuki shut the door, placing a language book on the armrest. A lot of the walls of bookshelves have become covered by the books the lions were using to teach him certain subjects or books of subjects he would learn in the future.

Louis flipped it open to where they were last and Ibuki sat down behind his desk, watching the fawn. As it was, these days Ibuki taught him language, including some basic level Seaspeak. He wasn't the best at it, but he had to start somewhere, even if he would barely use it in the future, if ever.

Dolph had taken to teaching him basic maths, since there wasn't really much to teach an eight year old beyond language and easy sums.

Louis looked over to Ibuki, who passed him a thin storybook. The activity in the book said he had to read a short story aloud. It didn't seem too complicated. Louis put the handbook away and picked up the storybook, jumping off his own chair to walk around the desk and clamber onto Ibuki's lap.