*Hey guys, I'm back with another chapter of my version of Sing! This is published on September 5, 2021. If you guys like this chapter, don't be afraid to vote and spam the comment section. That would be greatly appreciated! Thank you guys so much for taking the time to read this and have a blessed day! Warning: Mentions of domestic abuse. Enjoy!*

It was a crack of dawn as Johnny, Mizuki, and Mike were staying the night at Ms. Crawly's house. After the whole night of hot chocolate and unveiling dark secrets about Mizuki's living conditions, the trio passed out while Ms. Crawly was snoozing in her room. Once the sun rays beamed through the window and onto Johnny's face, Johnny groaned while gasping in realization. He hadn't been back home last night. His father must've been worried sick about him. Johnny gently nudged on Mike and Mizuki, waking both of them up slowly.

"I gotta go. I'll see you guys at work," Johnny whispered as he headed out of Ms. Crawly's place by opening the window and hopping out of it.

Mike blinked a bit. "What the--? I guess Wonder Boy is off again like a shooting star--"

Mike droned the last part and collapsed on the floor.

Meanwhile, Johnny skateboarded back home as quickly as he could. Arriving at the garage, he strode towards his bedroom window. He opened the window and crawled through it into his bedroom. He closed it quickly and shrugged his leather jacket off. He crashed onto the bed while staring up at the ceiling with a heavy sigh.

Johnny bit his lips as he took off his black and white striped shirt while stretching his arms. He began to change into his blue shirt with a black tree in the middle of it, getting his arms through the long sleeves, and then had his head craned up through the hole of the shirt. He threw his leather jacket back on as he opened his bedroom door and noticed his father standing there, about to knock.

"Oh, you're awake already," Dexter, Johnny's father, uttered in shock.

Johnny smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. Is the gang coming over today?"

"No...uh...I-uh, feel like we need to talk...father to son."

Johnny blinked while tilted his head. He's hesitant for a moment until he smiled wider, trying to appear genuine despite the nervousness welling up in his chest. "Oh, yeah, sure, Dad."

"Good," Dexter responded while leading his son into the lounge room with the television. He sat down and gestured to Johnny to sit next to him. "Take a seat."

Johnny sat down, becoming more uncomfortable. "Uh...what's up, Dad?"

Dexter scratched the back of his head. "Well, I want to remind you that...it's important that you learn how to drive...in a way that's reckless. Mostly because--"

"It's for the upcoming bank robbery. Don't worry, Dad, I think I got it down--"

"That's not what I was talking about, son," Dexter responded, shocking Johnny.

"You-You're not talking about that?"

"Well, it is related to it but...I've heard whispers the other day that a group of hyenas broke into a hospital in an attempt to sterilize someone and kidnap them. I trust that you weren't there but someone else is."

Johnny bit his lips, knowing who might be at the hospital possibly. "Why are you telling me this?"

Dexter rubbed his son's shoulder. "Well, those hyenas...they're...well, how do I put this? They're our enemies. They want the same thing that we do!"

"The same thing?"

"They want the gold, son. And they're going to get it if we slack off," Dexter determined. "That's why it's really important that you know this skill! Those hyenas are capable of going after their targets."

Johnny shivered in his seat, knowing so much but not telling his father. The young gorilla couldn't just tell his father about the situation and why those hyenas might possibly be at the hospital. Or why he even knew of these hyenas before his father ever found out about them. It's going to lead to his secret. He hadn't told his father about the theater or about his boss. He hadn't even told him about the new friends he made and how he felt like he belonged there despite being in a gang.

There's no way he should say any of this to his father. This wasn't the right time. He wanted to get up and run to the theater. The theater quickly became his safe place, which was odd. Maybe the theater immediately became safe because he wasn't the only one with secrets. Mizuki swept up her abuse of her jealous boyfriend under the rug as if it never happened. Buster Moon had an uncle who's part of a gang and Ash might've been mentally abused by Lance. He might need more time to get to know her.

He wasn't sure about Mike, Nancy, Eddie, Rosita, Gunter, Meena, or Ms. Crawly, but he's sure that they might have some skeletons in the closet.

"Well, anyway, gotta go," Dexter replied after a long pause as he got up from his seat. "Oh, and here's one more thing I oughta give ya!"

Dexter handed him a small package, confusing Johnny.

"What's this?" Johnny asked with a brow raised.

Dexter shrugged his broad shoulders. "I dunno. I found it on the front porch and it said that it's for you."

Johnny read the tag which indeed said that it's for him and him only. He tilted his head in confusion.

"Well, the gang's gonna be here any minute, do you--"

"I'll pass."

"Oh...uh, okay," Dexter responded while walking away from his son.

Once Johnny saw that his father was out of his vision, he opened the package hesitantly. It only revealed...wrapping paper? Johnny pulled the wrapping paper away as if he's a kid opening a present on Christmas day. Johnny's eyes went wide with horror as soon as he saw what was in the package. He frantically looked around the area as he pulled out of what appeared to be...a familiar broken watch.

Johnny caressed the watch while realizing that it's...Mr. Moon's watch. How did it end up here? Who left it on the front porch?

There's a note underneath the watch. Johnny picked it up and read it.

Consider this as a warning if you cross paths with me.

Johnny's brown eyes moved down to notice a picture of him, his father, and the gorilla gang inside of the garage, planning a heist with Buster outside looking in. The gorilla gasped in horror as he stuck a note in his pocket and placed the watch in the package. He managed to steal a few hundred dollars as he watched his father working out.

Taking a deep breath, Johnny waved his hand. "Oi, Dad! I'm going out!"

"Well, don't be long!" Dexter ordered as the young gorilla grabbed his skateboard and exited out of the garage as fast as he could.

Dexter noticed how his son took off without another word, riding his skateboard away from the garage like a speed of light. "What's ruffling his feathers?"

Dexter finished his workout and went into the kitchen to notice a few hundred dollars stolen from him. His eyes widened to realize...

Did my son steal a few hundred bucks? For what?

Meanwhile, Johnny was on the phone while skateboarding through the city.

"Hello?" a familiar voice came through.

"Hey, Norman, what time are you opening up today?"

"Uh...usually nine-o-clock...why?" Norman asked with a shocked tone in his voice.

Johnny swerved left and right to dodge the incoming animals coming and hopped over short animals to avoid running over them in an ollie. "I...need...something...fixed!"

"Well, come by anytime after nine," Norman said with a yawn, unaware of what's going on.

"Okay!" Johnny hanged up the phone and put it in his pocket. He used his foot to increase the speed as a desperate idea came into his head. He should tell the others, including Buster. Where to start though?

Johnny gasped as an answer came to him as he quickly headed towards the place he'd knew would help, at least.

~.~

Eddie snored loudly in his poolhouse while his body sprawled on the couch. A sudden pounding from the sliding door jolted Eddie awake.

"I'm awake, Ma! I'm awake!" Eddie shouted, sitting up abruptly.

"Eddie, it's me!" He heard Johnny's voice calling from the other side.

Eddie arched a brow as he got up from the couch and parted the blinds to reveal a panting gorilla. He noticed Johnny breathing heavily as if he ran for miles up the hill. The sheep raised a brow higher and opened his sliding glass door.

"C-Can I come in?" Johnny questioned between pants.

Eddie didn't answer but stood aside to gesture Johnny to come in. Johnny nodded his head in understanding and came into the poolhouse. The sheep took a moment to examine him while closing the door. Johnny plumped down on the floor with heavy breaths.

"What's going on there, man?" Eddie questioned as he sat diagonally across from the gorilla.

"Eddie...the gang...the hyenas...Mr. Moon--"

"Okay, okay, you need to take a chill pill," Eddie calmed the panicking gorilla down. "Uh...want some water?"

Johnny took a moment as he nodded his head. "Yeah...water sounds good."

Eddie got up and fetched a water bottle from the fridge behind him. He pulled it out and closed the fridge as he sat back down and handed it to Johnny.

Johnny received the water bottle with glee. "Thanks, Eddie."

The gorilla drank the entire bottle of water in a few lumps going down his throat, shocking the sheep. Was the gorilla that thirsty? Johnny broke away from the bottle with a gasp and crushed it in his hands, earning more wide-eyed shock from the sheep. He then disposed of it in the recycle right nearby him.

The gorilla leaned back against the couch while sitting on the floor and calming his breathing. "Sorry, I'm thirsty."

"No, don't be, man. I'm the one who offered," Eddie said with a chuckle. His chuckle faded away and his smile turned into a frown instantly. "So...what's going on?"

"Mr. Moon's in danger, Eddie," Johnny responded.

Eddie widened his eyes. "Again? Is it from the same group?"

"Yes...I think maybe...that you're right."

"Me? Right? About what?"

"Babeesh...I think...he's behind those hyenas coming after him. A package...came to me...and I opened it...and-and-and--"

"Take your time, dude," Eddie replied softly.

"I found this." Johnny swiftly took the watch out of the package, earning a shocked gasp from the sheep.

"That's Buster's watch. His dad gave it to him," Eddie uttered in shock.

"Eddie...I think we should tell the others this...including Mr. Moon."

"Yeah, I don't know if we should include Mizuki since she lives with him--"

"Eddie, she moved out."

"What?"

"She moved out of that place because he was hurting her...physically and mentally," Johnny responded urgently.

Eddie sat back for a moment to wrap his mind around the whole thing. "I knew there was something going on in that house."

"What do you mean?"

"I came by it yesterday and Babeesh told me that if he wanted to hurt Buster, he would've done it himself," Eddie responded to Johnny's question. "But...I saw what I thought was a tiny bloodstain on the floor. He told me it was ketchup but I didn't believe him."

Johnny set his determined gaze at the sheep. "Eddie, we can't keep this between us any longer. We have to tell the theater gang--so that they could be on a lookout for Babeesh or those hyenas."

"Yeah, let's do it."

~.~

"Mr. Moon? Mr. Moon!"

Buster jolted awake and scrambled back away from whoever was waking him up, only to realize that it's Rosita staring at him softly.

Buster realized that he'd been sleeping on the hard floor throughout the night as he stretched his limbs and gazed up at the female pig. "Hey...uh, how are you doing?"

"Good. Good." Rosita smiled softly until she noticed something on his neck with a slight gasp. "Oh my gosh, Mr. Moon, you got a bruise on your neck."

Rosita kneeled down beside the koala while touching his neck lightly to not hurt him. Buster winced a bit as he used his shirt collar to cover his bruise.

"It-It's nothing, Rosita," Buster stuttered while hiding in his neck collar like a turtle.

Rosita tilted her head in confusion. "That doesn't look like it's nothing, Mr. Moon."

Buster sat up against the wooden desk while trying to flash a reassuring smile at her. "I can assure you that it's nothing--"

Buster stopped his sentence when he saw the pig digging through her purse and took out a bag. She quickly fetched the ice from her cooler and placed the ice cubes in the bag. Rosita held the bag against the crook of Buster's neck before he could protest.

"Here, hold this right here," Rosita demanded softly.

Buster, confused by this action, held the bag against his neck.

"What happened last night?" Rosita asked softly as she watched her boss relaxing under the ice.

Buster stared around his office with a deep sigh. "Nothing happened."

Rosita arched a brow, not convinced by Buster's answer. She may not know him for more than a few days but she could tell instantly since her children would sometimes lie about their injuries. Her mother instincts kicked in for some reason despite her children not being there.

"Mr. Moon...you're lying," Rosita uttered softly.

Buster lowered his sights at the ground. No, he couldn't just tell this lovely woman about what happened last night. It's just not worth it. Is it?

The koala sighed heavily. "I was attacked."

Rosita's wide-eyed gaze appeared on her face as she scooted next to him to comfort him. "By who?"

"By some drunk guy...he's...well, he's just a drunk who went into the theater and attacked the first thing he sees," Buster responded, trying to sound like it's a normal thing to go through.

Rosita placed her hand on his shoulder as Buster glanced up to notice her touching him. The female pig bit her bottom lip while scooting closer till her arm bends a bit. Rosita focused off of Buster and glanced around his office.

"I'm sorry you went through that, Mr. Moon," Rosita sympathized.

Buster sighed deeply while gently pushing her hand off of his shoulder. "It's fine, Rosita. Nothing to worry about. Thanks for the ice pack though."

Rosita tilted her head when Buster got up and looked through the window in front of them. She stood up and watched the koala taking in the sun shining on his gray fur.

"Is Gunter here?"

Rosita giggled a bit. "Yeah. He's working out a new song routine. He's going to teach me new dance moves today."

"That's good. How was his voice doing?"

"As in singing?"

"Yeah."

"Oh...well...um, we still have a lot of work to do," Rosita replied shyly.

"Well, we got a few months till we kick off the talent show. Let's go!" Buster replied in determination.

Rosita smiled a bit to see Buster's voice getting a bit better. She turned and left the office to go back to practice.

"Good morning, Mr. Moon."

Buster turned to see Ms. Crawly, Mizuki, and Mike entering the lobby near the office...however, the koala noticed Mizuki wearing sunglasses.

The koala thought it was strange until he could peek behind the sunglasses and noticed...a black eye.

Ms. Crawly set her stuff down until she gasped. "Oh, I forgot something. I'll be right back." The old iguana slowly maneuvered out of the lobby.

Buster gasped in shock as he exited out of his office and looked over at Mizuki. "Hey, Mizuki, is everything okay?"

Mizuki adjusted her sunglasses with a small smile. "Yeah, everything is fine."

"Indeed everything is not fine," Mike narrated from her shoulder, being heard by both the antelope and the koala.

Mike noticed Mizuki glaring at him while Buster just glanced at him in confusion.

"Okay, I'll shut up now," Mike replied while hopping off of Mizuki's shoulder and exiting the lobby, leaving Mizuki alone with Buster.

Buster glanced at Mizuki now. "Are you sure everything is okay?"

Mizuki readjusted her sunglasses. "Everything is just fine."

Buster frowned at the thought of her not telling him. But...he would be a hypocrite if he tried to pressure her to get answers out of her. So, he decided to withdraw from any further questioning. "If you ever want to talk--"

Buster couldn't finish his sentence without having red growing in his cheeks. He took a deep breath as he finally finished his sentence before it got awkward. "--don't be afraid to...talk."

Mizuki gazed at the koala with her innocent hazel eyes hidden behind her dark sunglasses. When Buster turned away, she gave a sigh.

"Buster--"

Buster froze up a bit, not believing that Mizuki called him by his first name.

"I-I mean...Mr. Moon," Mizuki quickly corrected herself, although Buster wished she didn't correct herself. "Sorry...um...I...I'm not sure about this but--"

Buster turned around to notice Mizuki taking off her sunglasses to reveal more of her black eye. It appeared just as bad as it did when Buster first saw it. Buster bit his lips while realizing that he had an ice pack Rosita gave him held up against his neck. Buster climbed up on the piano bench, gesturing Mizuki to sit down. The antelope did as instructed as Buster placed an ice bag against her black eye but not the eyeball itself.

"Here...hold that there...you need it just as much as I do," Buster remarked with a small smile and a step back from her.

Mizuki noticed a bruise around Buster's neck. "Mr. Moon, you have a bruise too."

Buster blushed as he tried to cover his bruise with his shirt collar. "Nothing to fear, I'm alright."

Mizuki smiled softly while tilting her head. She could tell that the bruise came from someone choking him...who could it be? Wait...was it those hyenas that Johnny and Mike mentioned last night?

"Mr. Moon--"

"You can call me Buster if you want," Buster replied softly, not believing he even blurted out to her.

Mizuki had her eyes widened for a moment until she formed another smile. "Buster...what happened with your bruise? It looks like someone choked you."

"Yeah."

Mizuki gasped in shock. "I-Who did that to you?"

Buster rubbed his arm while sitting down on the bench next to Mizuki. He thought about Babeesh...how drunk he was. How the male antelope was fighting for his beloved by choking her boss. But this...this didn't make sense. Why was Babeesh hurting Mizuki as well? There's one for a jealous boyfriend to hurt him out of anger. But beating the heck out of a woman who stayed by his side for something that wasn't even her fault...that's something that was too far.

Part of him wanted to tell her, giving her more reasons to leave that no good arrogant abusive boyfriend of hers. But a part of him was scared that he's going to put her more at risk since she's going to be coming home to him or worse...he might hunt for her if she left him.

Buster took a moment until he saw Ms. Crawly coming into the lobby with fear and panic.

"Oh, Mr. Moon, uh--you-you got a visitor--"

Before Ms. Crawly could finish her sentence, a hippo cop appeared behind her. She had deep ocean eyes with a navy blue uniform with her arms crossed and a soft look at Buster.

"Are you Mr. Moon?" The hippo cop asked Buster.

Buster nodded his head. "Yes."

"The name's Officer Lea. I need to speak with you privately about what happened last night," the hippo, Lea, introduced herself and her intentions.

Mizuki glanced at Buster in a worried gaze but Buster smiled at her just to reassure her that everything was fine.

"Okay," Buster answered with a nod.

The hippo cop escorted Mizuki and Ms. Crawly out of the lobby.

Buster glanced at Mizuki with a soft smile. "I'll be okay."

The cop shut the door to the lobby as she headed into Buster's office. Buster followed her into his office as the cop shut the door. However, when she locked it, he tensed up.

"Um...with all due respect, officer...do you mind if you unlock the door?" Buster requested.

"Why?"

"Um...I get...claustrophobic in locked rooms," Buster uttered while rubbing his hands together.

The officer arched her brow. "I have an alternate solution."

She went over and opened the windows to get all the fresh air into the room so that Buster could breathe easily and ease up a bit. And, it strangely did help ease him up a bit.

"Better?" the cop, Lea, asked.

"Yeah, better."

The cop took a seat on Buster's office chair while Buster sat on the small chair across from it. "So, Babeesh is sitting in jail right now, sober. Since he assaulted you, would you like to press charges against him?"

Buster was just about to say yes but a part of him was scared to. Should he? The koala was left with a choice. Would it matter whether he wanted to press charges or not?

"Has...he done this to the other victims?" Buster asked. To him, it felt like a dumb question but he knew he had to ask it.

"No. Just you so far."

Buster pressed his lips into a thin line as he remembered seeing Mizuki's face bruised up. How many more times will he see her get hurt because of that monster living at home? Buster knew he wasn't the only one he assaulted.

The koala took a deep breath and gazed up at the officer. "Actually, officer...he did assault me as far as you know. That woman antelope outside was sitting right next to me and she's in a relationship with him. I don't know how often he hurts her at home or how often she had to face his wrath whether drunk or not but she's got a black eye because of the antelope you put inside of the jail."

"Well, are you reporting domestic abuse then?" Lea asked with a brow raised.

Buster was shaking in the form of that question. Would Mizuki be mad at him for this or will she thank him? He...He didn't know how to answer the question.

~.~

Johnny and Eddie entered the theater quickly as they looked around and saw that they entered when Ash and Meena were up on stage, talking amongst themselves.

Johnny glanced at Eddie. "I got to do something real quick. I'll catch up with ya!"

The gorilla left before Eddie could ask. However, the sheep didn't have time to question as he walked forward and approached the girls on stage.

Mizuki, Ms. Crawly, and Mike also approached the scene along with Gunter and Rosita.

"What's up with the cop?" Ash asked after Mizuki explained that the cop entered the building.

"Something happened to him last night. Someone choked him and...we don't know who," Mizuki informed while trying to wrap her brain around it.

"Wait...someone came and choked Buster?!" Eddie shouted in pure fear.

"Yeah," Mike uttered in shock. "Wait for a second...we set up the cameras the other day! Maybe we could find out who choked Moonster!"

"Moonster?" Ash questioned.

"Yeah, that's his new nickname for now on. Along with Sunglasses," Mike referred to Mizuki.

Eddie tilted his head to notice Mizuki holding an ice bag against her black eye. "Oh my gosh, Mizuki, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Eddie. I have the cameras connected to my laptop," Mizuki replied excitedly as she opened her laptop and entered the app for the cameras. She scrolled through the history and pressed on the earliest time after the group left for work.

Johnny came back into the theater from going into the pawnshop and having Norman fix Buster's broken watch while noticing his theater gang watching something. "What are you guys watching?"

"Come see!" Ash invited him over excitedly as the gorilla joined the gang is watching the cameras.

"Why is Mr. Moon setting up traps?" Meena asked meekly.

Gunter shrugged his shoulders. "Incoming enemies, I suppose."

"Shh," Rosita shushed them as they noticed Buster hiding out somewhere. However, what the group didn't expect, was seeing Babeesh stumbling into the theater, drunk and full of anger. The male antelope was caught up in the traps Buster laid down earlier as he dangled upside down.

Buster came into the scene with a shocked gasp.

"Oh my gosh! Babeesh, I'm so sorry! I thought you're someone else," Buster's voice came from the monitor, apologetic.

Babeesh snorted drunkenly. "Yeah, right."

The group watched as the video fast forward from Buster cutting Babeesh down to Babeesh barging through the theater with the scared marsupial trailing behind him. However, the cameras hopped from the entrance of the theater into the lobby as they saw Babeesh going into the office.

Buster just stood outside while looking at the antelope with a worrisome look on his face.

Eddie couldn't help but felt his heartbeat go faster when Buster just stood there idly.

"She's not here?" They heard Babeesh's voice from the monitor.

Everyone gasped quietly as the theater gang moved their eyes to look at Mizuki. Mizuki was trembling a bit as Buster began to talk.

"Um...if you're referring to Mizuki, she's not here--."

His statements were swiftly interrupted as Buster was tackled by the antelope with his hoof around the koala's throat and his small gray-furred body was slammed against the wall in the lobby next to the piano, earning a horrified gasp from everyone.

"Babeesh---!!!"

"Where is she?!" Babeesh barked at Buster, choking him.

"I-I don't know. I-I don't know where she is," Buster sputtered in pure fear. He tried kicking his little feet to get the antelope off of him.

This earned tears from both Mizuki and Eddie as they watched their friend getting choked in horror.

"Don't lie to me!" Babeesh snarled as he slammed the small koala back against the wall aggressively, causing the female antelope to sob uncontrollably.

"Babeesh, I swear I saw Mizuki going home. She's not here," Buster explained with his voice shaky.

"Yeah, right!" Babeesh growled, tightening his hold on the koala. "I've seen the way you looked at her! I've seen the way she looked at you back!"

Eddie gasped while his tears formed into anger and vengeance.

"Babeesh, whatever you're thinking, it's not like that!" Buster attempted to reassure the insecure drunken boyfriend of his employee that there was nothing going on. "She-She loves you!"

"No, she doesn't!!!" Babeesh yelled as he threw the koala onto the floor into his office.

Mike switched the cameras into the office to notice Babeesh on top of Buster, choking him and attempting to kill him. However, the police sirens were heard from outside as the police barged into the office and pulled the aggressive antelope back.

"He deserves to die! He deserves to die!!!" the drunken angry antelope struggled against the policemen's hold. 

Everyone was breathing heavily, knowing that they shouldn't have watched it but they needed to satisfy their curiosity. Now, they're left shocked and fearful.

"This is straight-up attempted murder," Ash was the first to speak.

"But...he's drunk--"

"Zhat still doesn't excuse his actions," Gunter reminded Meena.

Rosita covered her mouth. "Wow...and to think that Mr. Moon was trying to not make it a big deal."

"This is a huge deal! He could've gotten killed if somebody didn't call the cops!" Eddie blurted, full of rage at Babeesh.

"That makes me wonder of who called the cops," Mike uttered as he hopped back outside minutes before the cops arrive at the scene. They noticed a tall llama on the phone, assuming to hear Babeesh's shouting and Buster's cries.

"Oh look, that's Judith from the bank. He must've accidentally missed an appointment," Ms. Crawly pointed at the person.

Mizuki continued to sob, drawing their attention away from the computer. Ash immediately closed the laptop as Rosita pulled out tissues from her purse so that Mizuki could cry into them. The female antelope cried into the tissues Rosita gave her as Gunter looked at Ms. Crawly.

"Vhere's the water?" Gunter asked the iguana.

"Up the stairs," Ms. Crawly pointed backstage as Gunter walked up the stairs to get water for Mizuki.

Eddie was left with anger...he wanted to kill that male antelope now. For hurting his two friends. For almost killing one of them while abusing the other one both physically and emotionally. For the first time, in all Eddie's life, he felt powerless. Powerless to protect both. Powerless to stop the howling wolves scratching at their doors. To him, he had to watch all of this horror through the unbreakable glass. He had to watch them suffer over and over.

The sheep wanted to hug Buster and never let him go. He wanted to hug both Mizuki and Buster and swear to himself that no one will ever hurt them again. But he knew he couldn't. He knew he couldn't control their lives just as much as he could control his.

When Eddie glanced at the other animals comforting Mizuki, he figured that's all he could do for right now. Gunter came back with a plastic cup of water with Buster following behind along with the cop.

"What's going on?" Buster asked softly but urgently.

Mizuki cried into Rosita's shoulder as the mother pig comforted her. "I shouldn't have left!"

"What?" Johnny uttered.

"You did what you could to take care of yourself, Sunglasses," Mike replied genuinely.

"If I hadn't left...he wouldn't hurt Mr. Moon!" Mizuki sobbed into Rosita's chest. "Sorry...I'm getting...snot...I don't mean--"

"It's okay, sweetie. I have twenty-five children at home who cried to me all the time," Rosita replied. "Of course, that means that I had to do laundry right afterward but it's worth it if it means you're comforting somebody."

Buster's face softened as he noticed Eddie trying not to be upset as well.

The koala took a deep sigh. He knew that today wasn't a good idea to start working. He saw Lea walking up to Mizuki and placing paperwork right next to the sobbing antelope.

"If you ever need to report something, don't be afraid to come down to the police station," the hippo cop replied sympathetically as she headed out of the theater and thanked Buster for help.

Buster didn't pay attention as he took a deep breath. "I think...we need...a day off."

Everyone glanced up at him in shock. But they didn't question him when he said that.

"Get your rest and...dream big dreams," Buster's voice croaked at the dream part. He sighed heavily. "The show is only a few months away...so, I think there's nothing wrong with getting a day of rest."

Buster was expecting to be happy...even ecstatic that they got a day off. Instead, the group frowned like they weren't going to practice anything today. However, this was for Mizuki's sake and everyone was already ready to comfort her since they saw her going through so much in all one viewing of the video.

Buster didn't think the others are going to be sad about not working in the theater with him. However, he was soon proven wrong by the few chosen people that he picked up from the audition.

Mizuki noticed the paperwork right by her legs as she glanced down and saw that it's a report file. She glanced up at Buster, who looked at her with kind eyes.

"You don't have to if you don't...feel comfortable but...I reported domestic abuse because of what's happening to you when you come into work. I noticed that you were hurt in some places but I didn't know whether to intervene or not. I thought he's going to be good to you and horrible to the rest of us...but I-I should've told you that...he's not...well...he's not a good person. Not to you or to anyone. You guys constantly get into a fight and I'm afraid to intervene because I might make it worse--"

Mizuki rushed up to the koala, hugging him tightly. Buster felt tense at the first sight of contact as he...doesn't normally hug people. He never figured himself to be the hugging type. But when Mizuki was holding him close and her body began to tremble, Buster submitted and hugged her back, with his ears dropped down to the back of his head. He hugged her back.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left him...I should've stayed and just...deal with it. I'm sorry--"

"No, Mizuki, Mizuki," Buster called her name before breaking away from her and slid his hands to her shoulders so that she could look straight into his blue eyes. "You leaving him is the best decision you made for yourself and for others. We didn't know what to tell you or if you will listen to us or not. But it wasn't your fault. None of this is. He attacked me. He was drunk and was attacking me because he thought you and I had some sort of an affair, which I know we're not. And you know that we're not...right?"

Idiot, why did you pressure the poor girl?

When Mizuki didn't answer out of thinking about it, Buster just avoided the subject altogether.

"The point is, Mizuki, is that you're safe now. Away from him. And that's important. Okay?" Buster replied, staring into her eyes softly.

Mizuki smiled while wiping away the tears. "Yeah...but...I don't know where to go now."

"Why not at your place?"

"I---I don't want to go back there. Besides...it wasn't mine, to begin with."

Buster bit his lips while nodding his head in understanding. "I don't know where else you could stay. You're welcome to stay at the theater if you want. But I can assume that you want to stay at someplace with a bed, at least."

"She can stay with me!" Both of the animals turned to see Ms. Crawly offering her place.

"I think Ms. Crawly's more comfortable," Mizuki replied while scratching the back of her head, sniffling to finally stop crying.

Buster smiled at her softly. "Okay, sounds good."

"I'll-I'll get my stuff," Mizuki replied.

Buster tilted his place in confusion. "But you don't want to go back there?"

"It's only to just get my stuff," Mizuki answered.

"I'll keep you company," Johnny volunteered. "In case, Babeesh decided to come back."

"Do you think he will?" Ash uttered in confusion.

"I don't know. It's good to get prepared," Johnny answered with a shrug.

Mike nodded his head. "Yeah, I agree. I'm joining in."

Meena, Gunter, Rosita, Eddie, and Ms. Crawly exchanged brief glances at each other.

Rosita clenched her teeth. "Sadly, I can't go. For one, I got a date tonight but...I-um--"

"Ooh, I can watch your kids!" Gunter replied excitedly.

"Are you sure?" Rosita responded.

"Ya, I told you that I'm known as the best babysitter!" Gunter volunteered.

"Thank you so much, Gunter," Rosita thanked the flamboyant pig.

Ms. Crawly smiled. "Well, I'm going to go home and watch after my plants."

Finally, Eddie was able to calm down as he looked at Johnny. "Do you mind if I join you?"

"To be honest, I really want to see Mizuki's place," Ash replied mischievously.

"Uh...sure, the more the merrier," Johnny replied with a small blush.

Ash looked up to Meena. "Wanna come with us?"

Meena was a bit hesitant. "Uh...I'm not sure...um, I don't have plans to-tonight but--"

"Please?" Ash begged.

Meena took a moment to ponder. "Uh...sure."

"YES!" Ash cheered.

Buster chuckled and glanced over at Mizuki. "Looks like you got an army of theater workers coming with you."

Mizuki grinned softly. "I guess I do."

To Be Continued...