Beastars: The Discover Check

Chapter 128: Ghost Stories

"I mean there was something supernatural about all of it," the puma said.

"I'd rather not tempt the fates," the tiger retorted, not looking away from his portable gaming system. The light illuminated his face from above as he lay in the bed. His eyes were fixed on the screen as the characters ran around beating eachother up. He wasn't even focusing on anything they were saying.

"Your eyes are turning red," the cheetah said. "You're gonna get macular degeneration."

The tiger reached to a table and put on a pair of glasses.

"Blue blockers," he smirked.

"Don't you have a test tomorrow?" the puma asked.

"Yeah," the striped feline answered. "So?

"So shouldn't you be studying?"

"Studying, schmudying," the tiger smeared. "I'll just forget all the memorized information as soon as the test is over. Besides, it's physics. It's all about just putting in random numbers and letters until it works."

"That's not it at all."

"Really?" the tiger asked. "I've been doing that this whole year and passing."

"You have a D."

"Hey," the striped feline retorted. "There's a reason degree is spelled with a D."

The rest of the felines rolled their eyes before turning back to their homework.

"If you're not going to study with us could you at least turn down the volume?" the cheetah asked.

The tiger groaned as he reached for a pair of headphones, plugging them into his gaming system, taking the sounds and music of the game with it. Though faintly. It was loud enough to hear through the earpieces.

"And he's going to blow out his ear drums," the cheetah remarked, shaking his head.

"Hey Abe," the puma called.

The tiger had no reaction. He couldn't hear them over the noise from his headphones.

"Abe!" the puma called louder.

Still no reaction.

"ABE!" the lion roared.

The tiger jumped a little, taking his headphones off and looking over to them. The lion nodded to the puma and motioned for him to say what he wanted to.

"Abe," the puma continued. "If you're going to play that thing instead of studying with us, and you're not going to keep it quiet, could you play it somewhere else?"

The tiger took a moment to process what was being asked of him before nodding.

"Sure," he said, reaching for a bag. "Sorry."

He packed up his gaming console and stuffed a few more things into the bag before slinging it over his shoulder.

"I'll be at Nagu's," he said at the door. "Probably for the night."

"See you tomorrow," the lion said.

Abe flashed a look in his roommate's direction, one the lion didn't see, before turning from the group and leaving through the door. He walked down the hallway towards the stairs. Nagu's room was a few floors up, and with no elevator, he had some climbing to do. He passed the bathroom and made the mistake of looking in its direction. His bladder started to constrict. He rolled his eyes and went into the restroom.

After relieving himself and washing his hands, he looked at himself in the mirror. Being able to see in the dark, he had kept the lights off. He liked the way he looked in the night, his stripes melding with the shadows. He then looked into his own eyes. Why not? What was the harm in seeing if the urban legend would come true? He inhaled and held his breath before speaking.