Burdens [Furry BxB]

Chapter 75 - Tension

The fox fidgeted where he stood when the hyena asked his question. The motivated feeling he had was diminishing from the stare that the coach gave him.

"I... I, uh, came here to request that you, um..." the fox began.

"Just spit it out, kid." The hyena crossed his arms and sat back in his seat, staring at the fox in a scrutinizing manner.

"Well, you have a student, Hunter, on your team and he-" the fox began to explain.

"And he didn't do too hot on his history test. Yes, I know." The coach sat back up and rested himself on his arms on his desk. He gave the fox a stern look. "I've already gotten a couple of the teachers pleading his case. Thing is, he did poorly, and we can't have that on our team."

"Wh-what? But he's improved considerably, he just needs a little more time. Besides, isn't he a good player?" the fox asked incredulously.

"He's good, yeah, I'll give him that. Almost enough that he's detracting from the attention our star player deserves. Think about it this way: We have two good players, and one of them has good grades while the other one doesn't. Which one would you want people to look at?" the hyena asked in response.

Roger hesitated. It made sense to him logically, but moralistically it was lacking any value. "B... both of them, of course. If they're good players, you should have them on your team to win games, right? Why would anyone watch a losing team?"

The hyena rolled his eyes. "You don't get it, do you? These are high school games; friends and family are going to come to the game regardless to support their kids. Even if we lose, our top player is going to be the hero that merely had a bad game. It happens to everyone. I know these kids can play, and they can play fine without Wright. At the moment, he's just the mark of shame on this otherwise golden team.

"Listen here, kid. I don't want to see you in this office again, you hear me? This is not your choice or choice. Send up a petition, I don't care. This is my team and they are my players. I know what's best for them, so put that through your thick skull and learn to accept that you can't get everything you want." The hyena went back to preparing his lunch at his desk.

Roger shook his head and said in a slightly louder voice, "How does that make any sense? This isn't just your own life you're playing with, it's the lives of others! This is all Hunter even cares about if you take that away he's going to be devastated! He had some bad results, sure, but this is only going to make it worse."

The hyena gave him a look that was a mixture of anger and confusion. "What are you still doing here? Are you deaf? Did you not hear what I just said? Get out of my office!"

Roger mumbled something under his breath, turned around and left. "Fine."

His tail twitched in anger and he paced around for the rest of lunch.

He knew what the hyena said made sense, and part of that was what made him so angry. Before knowing Hunter, he may have had the same exact view on the situation, but now that he knew the wolf, he knew it was an absurd idea. It was too heartless and cold. It was selfish, and it was what he once was.

At the end of the school day, Roger stood outside the school like he usually did. The wolf was there earlier than usual, and Roger knew why. He did not greet the fox, nor did he smile or wag. He merely walked with him to the house quietly, expressionless.

They sat down to study, but the wolf was distant. He would look at the information, and it seemed that all processing had stopped. He could not understand any of what was being studied anymore, but he was not getting frustrated. He seemed more accepting of his lack of knowledge.

Roger could feel his rage welling up. He clenched his paws and tried to remain calm, but he was finding it much more difficult than he thought.

The wolf would not even look at him in the face. In everything he did, there was disappointment and shame. There was regret. He attempted to hide it all.

There came a moment of silence and Roger could see the stress that the wolf was enduring. He had only noticed just now, but he was gripping his leg with his non-writing paw, enough so that it looked like it was extremely painful.

Roger sat next to him and put his paw atop the wolves. Hunter's grip lessened and he looked over at the fox, surprised. It was almost as if he did not expect him to be there, or even had forgotten where he was at the time. There was bafflement in his expression, and then it turned into sorrow.

Tears began to well up in the wolf's eyes, and then they fell. One after another, the wolf had crumpled into a ball. Roger took hold of him in his arms and attempted to comfort him but to no avail. The situation was deteriorating at a rapid pace.

"Shh, it'll be okay," Roger said.

"I tried so hard," the wolf said in between sobs. "I tried so hard and I still couldn't do it, and now I can't be on the team, and...."

The fox let him trail off. He let him cry into his shirt when the wolf embraced him. He could feel the anger within himself multiply as it went on, all of which directed at the coach. He gritted his teeth.

"You know what, you don't need them, okay? I'll play with you, alright? Every single day, we'll practice and play, okay? I know I'm not that great, but I'll get better, and we'll have fun. Just forget about them," the fox said.

The wolf looked up at him and then moved back to a seated position. He sniffled, and then said in a croaked voice, "Do you mean it?"

The fox nodded, sealing his fate.