Chapter Text
Double Delight Rose
A Beastars Fanfic
⪻🌹⪼
On a late Tuesday evening, an injured male alpaca runs through empty halls of a building with a large carnivore hot on his trail. The frightened mammal stumbles into an auditorium and closes the door, leaving them in complete darkness.
Backing away from the door and the terrified male asks in a shaky voice. “Are you seriously going to eat a classmate?!”
There is a moment of silence before the predator throws open the doors. The sudden and loud action has the herbivore jump backwards, and tumbles down the stairs. Huffing in both exhaustion and pain he struggles to get back on his feet. Just when he manages to stand back up and about to turn towards the other, the door closes again and cuts off the only sources of light.
Panicking, the alpaca frantically looks around but is unable to see anything. He carefully steps backwards as he continues to reason with the other. “What happened to all the time we spent in class together?!” Upon receiving no answer he continues. “Are we really nothing but food to you carnivores?”
Still nothing. The herbivores fear is slowly getting replaced by frustration at the lack of response. Still stepping backwards and glaring into the darkness, he accidentally stepping on a remote triggering a projector slide on building a shared society for carnivores and herbivores. The alpaca glances at what is projected and frowns, feeling mocked by what is projected. Especially now, when he is surely to die by the hands of carnivore. The sound of a footstep in front of him makes him return his attention to the approaching assailant.
Despite his fear, the herbivore can't help but let out a small chuckle. “Shared society my ass.” The large creature keeps approaching him, blocking out the light of the projector. Holding his shin high and bracing himself for what he knows is about to come, he cries out for the last time. “You carnivores are all monsters!” Before a sharp set of teeth end his life.
1st Chapter: The Rose and the Beast
In the early morning the students of Cherryton Academy are getting ready for class and many are walking from their dorms to the main building. However they're stopped by the police and their teachers hurriedly tell them to go back to their dorms as the main building is going to remain closed for today. Many of the students are confused while others are whispering to each other. Despite the authorities best efforts, it seems like some information still got out and the news of the tragic events spread fast.
Standing along with the other students is an young female angora goat with her friends, a young female donkey and a young female nyala antelope. “Predation?”
The donkey turns towards the angora goat and nods. “I heard the victim was Tem Asano, his body was found by a group of upper classmates who arrived earlier because they wanted prepare for a presentation they had today.”
The female gasps at that information, giving the donkey a shocked look. “Tem?! No way... We were practising together just yesterday...”
“Yeah, apparently it was a very horrific scene.”
“Was it a student?”
The donkey shrugs. “I don't know, it's suspected so but nobody really knows. They just started the investigation after all.”
But before the angora goat could say anything else, her other friend speaks up. “But you gotta admit, Els, this is pretty ironic.” That made them both look over to the nyala antelope, who calmly continues. “That this would happen to a drama club member of all mammals. A place that was supposed to be like a symbol of friendship between carnivores and herbivores.”
Els lowers her head, unable to say anything against that because it's the truth. The donkey worriedly glances at a group of carnivores. “Say... don't you have a gray wolf in the club?” Upon that the other two look towards the direction their friend is looking and Els almost lets out a surprised gasp when she finds herself locking eyes with a tall gray wolf surrounded by other canines. “Be careful, Els.”
The herbivore and carnivore continue to look at each other before the nyala antelope lays a hand on Els' shoulder, startling her a bit by doing that. Her friend sends a glare towards the gray wolf before leading her friend back to their dorms.
The wolf watches the three females walk away before slowly returning his gaze back to the main building. “Tem...”
As the day progressed, the students were told that the main building remains closed until next week and that there won't be any classes until then. Also the curfew got changed, students now ave to return to their dorm at 6 pm instead the usual 8 pm. While they're allowed to go outside and participate in club activities, there will be more teachers present on the premise. It also became clear that the police will be around and that they remain in the school even after the main building is opened up again. Tension was high in Cherryton Academy and the herbivores would nervously eye the carnivore and omnivores when walking past them, keeping a notable distance between them. The only one who doesn't seem to care is a young harlequin rabbit, with a furious expression on her face as she stomps towards the herbivore female dormitory. Hurriedly following her is a female black cat and a female raccoon.
“Mizuchi, wait!” The black cat calls out, trying to get her friend to slow down.
The raccoon gasps for air. “Please, just stop and calm down.”
But the doe doesn't listen and enters the building. Her friends try to follow her inside but are stopped by Kimi Miyake, Herbivore female dorm housemother. “Sachiko! Naomi! What are you two doing here? Haven't you've been told that until everything is settled, carnivores and omnivores aren't allowed to enter the herbivore dorms?”
Sachiko, the black cat, tries to explain the situation to the gentle horse. “Ah... well you see, Mizuchi is in a really bad mood so we're trying to cheer her up.”
“Or rather, trying to keep her from making another body pop up...” Naomi injects, ignoring the glare her feline friend sends her.
The housemother ignores what Naomi has said, already used to the raccoon's deadpan comments. “I understand but this time I don't think I can turn a blind eye... especially with how tense the situations are. I don't want you two to get into trouble.”
Defeated, Sachiko sighs. “... we understand.” With that the two females walks away, sending the Herbivore dorm building one last look before making their way to their own dorms.
Inside, Mizuchi slams the door close and stomps over to her bed. Ignoring the startled yelp of the crested porcupine, who was laying on the top bunk of the bed and reading a romance novel, and dropping onto the lower bunk with a frustrated growl. Both mammals are quiet, one is too terrified to make a sound and the other is too busy wishing to be able to do horrifying thinks to two certain rabbits in her head. After what felt like hours for the poor crested porcupine, Mizuchi lets out a long sigh and moving her head to the side so her voice isn't muffled.
“Sorry about that, Shoko...”
Her room-mate sighs in relief and lets out a cute little giggle. “One would think I'd be used to this by now but I think with you, that's impossible.” Shoko jokes but upon realizing that the other would laugh nor respond to the banter, she carefully climbs down and give the doe a worried look. “What's wrong, Mizuchi?”
After a small pause, she finally responds. “Koji... I found out that he kissed some bitch from the gardening club...”
“Gardening club?” Shoko pauses a bit, seeming to be thinking about something before her eyes grow bigger in realization. “You mean the white dwarf rabbit, Haru?”
At that Mizuchi sits up and stares at the other in surprise. “You know who that bitch is?”
“Well yeah, she is the only member of the gardening club and quite infamous for sleeping around.” The crested porcupine tells her as if it was common knowledge.
Mizuchi wasn't even aware that they even had a gardening club to begin with, and it's not like she cares about some random dwarf rabbit. Well, that is until now. “Tell me everything know about that dwarfy.”
Meanwhile in the locker room of the drama club, the tall gray wolf overhears a black panther and a brown-furred mongoose, discuss the current predicament the drama club has to face with Tems death.
“This is bad.” The mongoose sighs as he checks his appearance in the mirror.
The black panther, who is standing besides him, nods in agreement. “Yeah... It's only two weeks until the performance. We're just gonna have to find a replacement for Tem.”
“Yeah.” The brown-furred mongoose replies, clearly not as bothered by the incident as his friend is.
“But should we really be doing a play when one of our members just died?” The feline wonders out loud.
Not bothering to participate, gray wolf simply gets ready and exits. Startling the other two males while doing so. In the practice room, the members of the drama club are clearly anxious about the whole situation. Els is standing closer to the stage with three other female club members.
“It still doesn't feel real.” The giraffe says to the other girls.
Els lowers her gaze to the ground and nods. “Yeah.” There is a moment of silence between them.
The stout rhino looks around before asking.“Where're Louis and the other seniors?”
“They're in a management meeting.” The prosimian answers her. Els wraps her arms around herself and sighs softly, causing the others to become concerned with her. “What's wrong, Els? You've been looking uncomfortable for a while now.”
The angora goat turns her head and looks towards the overlook were equipment and stage lights are. “Well...” She once again finds the wolf from before staring at her from behind the Stage light. The other girls also look at him, clearly uncomfortable with his stare as well.
Then suddenly the club president, an alpine wearing glasses, walks through the door while holding a clipboard. “Is everyone present? Please gather around.” However the herbivores and carnivores of the club have separated into groups on opposite sides of the room. A bit taken aback at first, the club president then continues. “I'm sure you've all heard already, but something terrifying happened at school this morning. Tem Asano, the actor, has-”
However he is interrupted by a female zebra. “President!” The room was tense and both sides gave each other accusatory looks. “This is the only place Tem had any contact with carnivores.”
“A-And?” The club president nervously replies, clearly not liking where this is going.
The bengal tiger on the side of the carnivore speaks up, knowing were she is going with this. “Are you accusing us?”
The zebra continues. “Someone must have been jealous Tem got an important role!”
“What a load of crap!” The male growls. “You herbivores are always like this!”
But she doesn't back down and instead provokes him further by asking. “What?! Are you going to bite me? You're aware that a carnivore hurting a herbivore means expulsion, right?”
The bengal tiger huffs in annoyance. “Ridiculous! You're not even worth sinking my teeth into!”
While these two continue to argue, a chipmunk, holding a jar of walnuts, ask the other herbivores in the back. “Has anyone seen Legoshi? I can't open these walnuts”.
A young cow turns to the chipmunk and rolls her eyes. “You do know that Legoshi isn't a nutcracker, right?”
Upon hearing these two in the back, the giraffe looks to were the gray wolf was before and notices that he was no longer there. “But now that you mention it... I don't see him either.”
That makes Els look around, worried about how he was staring at her. Her face becomes grim as she remembers the intensity of his stare and how unnerving it was. “Like a predator scoping his prey...” The angora goat thinks.
After the disastrous club meeting, Els is accompanied by the female prosimian from before. They both talk as they walk towards the entrance of the herbivore female dorm, the sun is setting and bathing the entire school in a orange hue.
Els confines in her friend about her worries about the gray wolf. “I'm scared... It's like he was scoping out his prey. I swear, that wolf's telling me I'm next.”
The other nervously chuckles and shakes her head. “No, he couldn't be... Legosi's always been a bit of a weirdo.” But when she sees how terrified her friend was, the prosimian takes a hold onto her hands. “But look, If you need anything, you can always come see me. We prosimians are always fun to be around.” She gives her a warm smile, hoping that it would cheer her up a little.
The angora goat gives her a small smile in return and nods. “I guess... today's event really put me on edge.”
“Not just you...” The omnivore pauses before giving her a reassuring nod. “Now go get some rest.”
“Alright, you too...” And with that prosimian makes her way to the omnivore female dorm. Leaving Els in front of the entrance of her dorm. She remains there for a while, watching her friend for a while until she she no longer can see her. With a soft sigh, Els turns to the entrance and takes out her key-chain as she suddenly hears the rustling of a nearby bush and sharply turns to look what could had caused it. The angora goat drops her keys in shock as she sees the gray wolf emerging from behind a tree and approaching her. “N-No! Stay away!” But the wolf keeps approaching her. Not wanting to go down without a fight, she fishes out a pair of scissors to defend herself. “You pretend to be our friend, and then-” Els is breathing hard and her vision starts to get fuzzy, taking a deep breath she holds up her shin and raises the pair of scissors. “And then you treat us like food when you're hungry?” Her hands are shaking and it is unnerving how the other hasn't said a single word to her. Once he stops in front of her, she musters all her courage and glares at him. “W-Well, too bad! It won't be that easy! We may not look it, but both Tem and I are way more-”
However despite all that, it was ridiculously easy for the tall wolf to simply take the scissors out of her hands. Already expecting the worst, the herbivore squeezes her eyes shut and simply waits for the pain. But after a long pause of nothing, she carefully opens her eyes again, only to see Legoshi holding out a letter to her. “It's a love letter. You should have it.” But that only confused the angora goat further. Feeling a bit awkward, Legoshi tries to explain himself. “I-I waited until we could be alone.”
After a while, Els finally snaps out of her stupor. “You just wanted to give me this?”
“Yeah”
The pair sat down on a nearby bench as Legoshi explains the situation to the obviously confused female besides him. Once she understood the situation and has calmed down, she can't help but giggle at how silly this whole situation is.
“I knew that Tem had never been able to give it to you.” The gentle wolf awkwardly finishes and pauses for a moment before questioning his action out loud. “I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have given it to you.”
“No, I'm glad you did.” Els quickly exclaimed, not wanting the other to feel like that he did a mistake. “Thank you...”
Legoshi nods and stands up. “Well then... See you tomorrow.”
“Wait!” The herbivore jumps off the bench and quickly grabs onto his much larger hands, stopping him from leaving. “I just badmouthed you to a friend. But you're such a kind wolf... I'll take it back tomorrow.” After a small pause she realizes that she still held onto his hand, embarrassed she quickly let go and bashfully looks away.
The carnivore regards her for a moments before calmly responding. “No need to take anything back.”
That made her look up in surprise. “Why not?”
“I'd feel bad for Tem if everyone found out about his crush after he died.”
There is a moment of silence and Legoshi takes her lack of response as an indicator that the conversation is over, only for Els to stop him from walking away again. “But still! If I don't do anything, I'll feel so guilty.”
But the wolf just waves off her concerns and continues to walk away. “Don't worry about it, I'm used to being feared and hated.”
Leaving Els alone in her thoughts as she looks down onto her love letter. “Why did he have to be so awkward about this...”
The next day, early in the morning, Legoshi is laying on his back on his lower bunk of the bed. The bed curtains are drawn close, allowing him to remain undisturbed by the light that shines through the window. The chirping of the birds outside and the noises his room-mates make while getting ready, are all not heard by the gray wolf. He is too lost in thoughts of his friend Tem, remembering a certain moment related to the letter.
The alpaca was standing in the locker room of the drama club and had been staring at the love letter in his hand for a while now before letting out a sigh and placing it inside it and locking his locker. Legoshi who was besides him the whole time was watching him.
“You're putting it back... again.” The wolf points out, startling his herbivore friend.
“Ah! Legoshi! I um... I just can't find the right timing.” But upon seeing the wolfs deadpan expression, the shyly scratches the back of his head. “B-But don't worry! I'll do it when the time is right!” Legoshi remains quiet while watching Tem's face becoming more determined as he continued. “I'll tell her how I feel.”
Back to the present, Legoshi quietly mutters to himself. “Tem... I told her for you.” Right after the curtains are pulled back and the face of a young english sheepdog is revealed.
“Legoshi! You have to get up already.”
The wolf slowly sits up and runs a hand across his face. “Collot...”
“You're looking scary. Wakey-wakey.” Collot says while pinching Legoshi's cheek.
A young coyote is exiting the bathroom, the sound of the toilet flushing can be heard. “Hehe Legoshi!”
“Morning, Durham...” The wolf only grunts in reply while the english sheepdog drags him across the floor towards the bathroom.
Durham laughs at his friends antics. “Seriously, maybe you should switch to the nocturnal classes. I've never seen a wolf being such a bad morning canine.” He helps Collot drag Legoshi onto his feet before clapping him on the back. “Though, then Jack over there might miss you too much.”
The mentioned labrador retriever chuckles. “Probably. Come on Legoshi, Hurry up and get dressed. You wouldn't want to miss out on your beloved egg sandwiches, do you?”
“Alight guys, let's go grab some breakfast! I'm starving!” The coyote loudly cheers as he gets quickly dressed.
Jack laughs at that. “When aren't you starving?”
Legoshi watches his friends for a while with a soft smile on his face, enjoying the comradeship between them and hoping that they will stay like that forever.
Meanwhile, a white dwarf rabbit tends to flowers around the herbivore female dorm until objects start to fall from a window above her. Sachiko and Naomi are giggling as they toss her things out of the window.
“Oh sorry, are you okay? They got snatched away by the wind!” Naomi says mockingly.
“But you're gonna fine, won't you? Just call one of your many lovers to help you out.” Sachiko adds to the mocking of her friend.
The dwarf rabbit puts her hands on her hips and glares at the two females. “Oh don't worry, I'm fine! Nothing you could do would bother me one bit!” She confidently calls up to them only to have to jump back as her mattress is falling from above. It lands on the ground with a loud thud and as the shocked rabbit looks up she sees Mizuchi looking down on her.
“Why don't you take it to your little love-shack, Haru? I'm sure the mattress there needs to be replaced considering all the filthy things you do on it.” And with that the harlequin rabbit closes the window, leaving Haru to deal with it on her own. Her two friends laugh out loud as she walks towards the the young female squirrel, who is sitting on the lower bunk of the bed and keeping herself busy with working on a word quiz book.
“Man, this was worth sneaking past Mrs. Miyake. Though I wish the mattress would had hit her.” The raccoon giggles mischievously.
Sachiko nods. “Yeah, would had served her right for messing with the relationships of others.”
Mizuchi however isn't laughing, for her this is only the beginning. “I'll show that bitch what it means to mess with me.” She thinks to herself while opening her bag. In her bag is a fashion magazine with a beautiful female harlequin rabbit on the cover, her light blue smartphone with a tiny harlequin rabbit figure chained to it, a pepper spray, a taser baton, her key-chain with a light blue personal alarm attached to it and finally her light blue purse with adorable little bunny heads as pattern. She takes out her purse and looks towards the squirrel. “How much you want, Sally?”
The mentioned herbivore looks up from her book and shakes her head. “Nah, is fine. I just didn't want to get involved with whatever you two have going on.”
Mizuchi shrugs. “Smart of you.” She puts her purse back into her bag and walks out of the door. Her two friends join her and walk besides her.
“I gotta say though, I expected her to look more... interesting.” Naomi wonders out loud.
Sachiko agrees with her. “Yeah, I don't get it either. Why are the guys so interested in her?”
Mizuchi sighs. “You're thinking too hard about it. The majority of males are simple minded creatures. They hump anything that looks even slightly feminine.”
The two girls exchange a look, before the black cat asks. “Are you sure you want to get together with that cheating bastard?”
“Yeah, I mean it's not like you love Koji. Might as well give him to that dwarf rabbit and have her deal with him.”
“This isn't about love, it's about respect. She dared to disrespect me and I want her to feel what it's like to have someone trample all over their pride.” Mizuchi explains. “And as for Koji, if it wasn't for our species' sake then I'd castrate him for the humiliation he caused me. He can consider himself lucky in that regard and nothing more, he is just a means to an end.”
Naomi shrugs. “If you say so.” She is not one to care too deeply about an other mammals life and she knows that her friend isn't one to easily give up on something.
Sachiko on the other hand, eyes her prideful friend with a worrying look. While she thinks Mizuchi's conviction is admirable, she worries about her friends happiness. “But Mizuchi... what about your happiness? Don't you want a relationship with love as the centre?”
The harlequin rabbit rolls her eyes. “I don't need a male to achieve happiness or love. I have my family and you guys for that.” She gives her feline friend a gentle smile, which is promptly returned by a bashful smile.
“And a ton of money.” Naomi injects with a big grin.
Mizuchi chuckles at that and nods. “And that.”
The three girls calmly make their way to the exit, and see that the housemother has still not returned. The three girls share a grin before exiting the building, laughing at the fact that they got away from breaking the dorm rule.
Outside, in between the academy's dormitory buildings, Legoshi is watching a small group of ants carrying crumbs of old bread and leaves around. The wolf breaks off a piece the old bread slice he's holding and crunches it between his fingers, causing more crumbs to fall to the ground and other ants picking them up. He was enjoying the peaceful moment until a female voice interrupts said peace.
“It's Louis!”
The wolf looks up and sees a swarm of young female mammals watching the young red deer walk past them.
The girls jump and cheer, gushing over his good looks and achievements. “What, the lead in Adler?”
“He's gorgeous both on and off stage!” The male however ignores them and continues his walk with confidence oozing off of him.
Legoshi can't help but stare at the other, he was always impressed with how Louis held himself. A complete opposite to him. “Louis Kamiyama... His mannerisms, his voice, his gaze...” The wolf was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize that the red deer had stopped walking. “I'm sure Louis puts careful thought into all of it. He's just one year older than me, but he's already a star actor and at the top of the school.”
Finally Louis turns towards the kneeling wolf. “What are you looking at?” Legoshi blinks a couple of times, stunned by the fact that the other talking to him. The deer raises a brow. “Are all wolves this poor-mannered?”
Finally realizing that he had been openly staring at the other male, Legoshi averts his eyes and mumbles a apology. "Oh... sorry..."
There is a pause between them, with Louis regarding the carnivore. Suddenly he says. “You're that pup from the backstage team.” Legoshi nods in confirmation and the deer chuckles. “Perfect timing. I have a favor to ask. Come with me.” Not waiting for a response, Louis continues his walk. Expecting the other to follow him.
A bit taken aback, the wolf mumbles a small “...Okay.” Before he stands up and follows the third-year.
As time passes, orange and gold hues are stretching far and wide as the sun is setting. Signalling the ending of a day. A lonesome white dwarf rabbit is sitting behind the herbivore female dorm with a tray of food resting on her legs.
“The food tastes just as good when you eat alone outside.” Haru mutters to herself as she eats.
“Impressive!” A familiar voice calls out to her, making Haru pause. Mizuchi and her friends calmly walk over to were the dwarf rabbit is sitting. “Everyone ignores you and you have no one on your side, yet here you are acting as if nothing is wrong.” Sachiko giggles by her side.
“But shouldn't you be a bit more worried?” Naomi asks mockingly. “After all, we just had a devouring and a dwarfy like you is out here all alone.”
“And there goes my appetite.” Haru sighs and places her tray on the side before standing up and giving them a defiant look. “How about you spend your time patching things up instead of badmouthing me to everyone?”
The harlequin rabbit raises a brow. “Badmouthing? Well it's not like I hadn't thought about it but apparently there is no need for me to do that as it seems to be common knowledge anyway.”
Haru gives her a smug smile. “He's the one who kissed me. And besides, considering how excited he got from that little peck, I'm not sure he is really worth it.”
“That smug little bitch!” Mizuchi clenches her fists at her side. “She dares to mock me like that?!”
Haru holds up her chin and demands. “Move.” and makes an attempt to go past the other doe.
But instead Mizuchi hits her with her elbow and makes the dwarf rabbit fall off the small ledge. Turning to the fallen mammal, she picks up the bucket of water and splashes Haru with it. Mizuchi glares down on the soaked doe. “Listen here! We're a couple of endangered harlequin rabbits. We're on a different league than your kind. You, an unremarkable dwarf rabbit, ruined a pure-bred couple! So save your opinion for someone who actually cares about what a little whore like you has to say.” With that, Mizuchi throws the empty bucket towards Haru and starts walking away while telling for her friends. “Let's go, we're done here.”
Sachiko sends the white dwarf rabbit one last glare before following the prideful doe. Naomi giggles at the Haru's predicament before doing the same. Mizuchi had a frown on her face, which worried her two friends. The black cat makes an attempt to cheer her friends up. “Not even a tiny bit of remorse in that dwarf rabbit, she got what she deserved.”
Naomi nods. “Yeah, then to act so smug over it as if she did a great thing. Man, females like that really piss me off.”
The harlequin rabbit lets out a frustrated sigh. “And Koji, that bastard I-” But she is interrupted by the ringtone of her phone. The three girls stop walking as Mizuchi takes out her smartphone from her bag. When she sees the ID of the caller huffs in annoyance. “Oh... it's Ryuji.”
Sachiko perks up that, ignoring the amusing look the raccoon is giving her. “Oh! Your big brother?” The black cat asks excitingly.
Her friends reaction cheers the doe up and she can't help but tease a little over her obvious crush on her older brother. “Do you want to answer him instead? We'll even give you two some space~”
Naomi chuckles at that and the feline hides her face behind her hands in embarrassment. “Come on, guys! Stop teasing me!”
Mizuchi giggles before answering the call. “What is it?”
“Ouch! Why so cold, baby sis? Not even a friendly “hello” or “I miss you big brother!”. I'm hurt.” A deep but teasing voice responds.
The doe rolls her eyes. “Hello. Now tell me what you want.”
Suddenly the voice becomes more serious. “About what happened there, I want to talk to you... personally. Or would you prefer if dad contacts you first?”
Flinching at the mention of her father, Mizuchi hurriedly agrees. “No need for that! He'll just tell me to pack my things and come home.”
She hears her brother chuckle. “He'd lock you in a tower with 24/7 surveillance and like a dozen bodyguards.” Even if it's just a joke, for some reason Mizuchi has no problem seeing their father doing that. “Anyway, tell me where.”
The doe thinks for a moment before she gets an idea. “Near the academy's theatre. If there aren't any plays it is the most remote and quiet area here.”
“Alright, see you there.” And with that her brother ends the call.
Sachiko has been vibrating from excitement for a while and finally bursts out. “He is coming today?! Oh my god, I need to get out of this uniform and get into something better.”
Mizuchi just rolls her eyes. “No need, because I'll be going alone.”
Naomi laughs at the heartbroken expression on the felines face. “B-But why?! I just wanna see him again!”
“Because he made it clear that he wants to talk to me alone and also if we all go we probably will attract too much attention.”
Sachiko clings onto Mizuchi's arm and pleads. “I'll be hiding away so he won't see me and be super quiet!”
The harlequin rabbit tries to push her friend off of her, while Naomi almost collapses from laughing so hard. “S-Sachiko! No! Maybe next time.”
In the drama club building, Louis walks into a dressing room with Legoshi following close behind. A young male goat with light fur is already inside the room, nervously waiting for them.
The red deer turns to Legoshi, who is closing the door. “You're going to help me fix his act by tomorrow.”
“Huh?” The wolf is surprised by that but Louis quickly explains.
“Zoe will be replacing Tem. We decided during yesterday's management meeting.” He then turns to the goat. “Right?”
“Yes.” Zoe timidly responds.
The taller herbivore however watches him with suspicion. "How ironic that I'd meet you here, O'Dea the Water Spirit." He suddenly dramatically says.
Confused, the goat asks. “W-What are-”
“We're practising. What's O'Dea's next line?” Louis interrupts him.
A moment of awkward silence fills the room before Zoe admits. “I-I'm sorry, I still haven't memorized...”
Upon hearing that, the deer frowns and calmly walks to the nervous goat. “What's wrong?” Not waiting for a response, he grabs the other herbivore's chin and forces him to look at him. “Open your mouth.” Louis ask threateningly, leaning closer as he glares down at the scared goat.
“L-Louis...” Zoe stutters, his eyes big as he stares up at the other.
“Say, did you gobble up the script?” Louis asks, thought he already knows the answer. “Eating paper is about all goats are good for, right? I'd rather you spared us that particular talent.”
“I-I promise I'll have it down by tomorrow...” The goat promises.
Suddenly a young male mongoose bursts into the room and asks. “Louis! Why is Zoe replacing Tem? During the auditions, Tem and I were the last ones to-”
But the red deer interrupts him. “Learn to knock!” He then turns back to the goat and releases him. “Wait outside and get your lines down.”
Goat nods. “Yes...” Before he walks past the livid mongoose and closing the door behind him as he exits the room.
The moment the door closes, the omnivore gives Legoshi a confused look. “Hey, what are you doing here? You're from the stage crew.”
Legoshi turns to Louis. “Uh... I guess I'll leave too.”
“No, you can stay.” The deer then turns to the mongoose. “Kai, make sure you get along with Legoshi. You'll be working together backstage.”
“Huh?!” Is all Kai, was be able to say to that.
Louis continues. “We've formally decided you're no longer welcome as an actor. From now on you'll work with PR and the crew, and support us from backstage.”
Outside the room, a group of the other club members are trying to listen to what is being said inside the room by pressing their ears against the door.
“Hey!” A beautiful female cheetah calls out to them, startling them. “Are you done with your warm ups?” Begrudgingly the group follows her.
Inside the room, Louis continues to taunt Kai about his past mistakes. “The Spring Wind act 2 footwork. The Winter Safari Tournament's final dance. You know better than anyone else that I didn't just recite an incantation. Right, Kai?”
Kai was fuming, his clenched fists shaking and his fur was standing up.
Despite being well aware that he is pushing the omnivore's patience, Louis continues anyway. “You've been acting here for two years, and your only substantial accomplishments are the two on-stage flubs I mentioned. No, I'm the one who'd like to ask: Why did you ever think you'd get to be Tem's-”
Finally Kai's patience runs out and he snaps, attempting to punch the red deer. However, he is blocked by Legoshi we steps between the two. Calmly he reasons with the enraged mammal. “Put the actors' safety first. That's an important part of our job as crew.”
“Huh?” The other growls.
“He's our lead actor, Kai.” Legoshi calmly reminds him.
“Who the hell do you think you are?!” Kai's growl grows louder, until Legoshi flashes his fangs and returns his growl with one of his own. The mongoose flinches at that and hastily backs away from the wolf with wide eyes. Not wanting to provoke the wolf further, Kai nervously says. “Man, what was I thinking there? Guess I'll let you off the hook.” However the omnivore sends one last glare towards Louis, who has been watching them with great fascination. “Must be nice being spoiled. I hope you'll have him protect you for the rest of your life!” With that he walks out of the room, yelling at the other club members. “The hell are you staring at?!”
A moment of silence follows after Kai slammed the door behind him, before Louis' chuckle breaks it. “You showed your fangs to avoid fighting... I'm surprised. You're usually about as intimidating as a houseplant, but it seems even you have some ferocity within.”
Legoshi quietly mutters. “Excuse me.” Before he makes his way to the door, wanting to leave the room as well. However he lets out a surprised gasp when Louis grabs his tail and slightly turns to see the red deer smirking.
“Still, it seems like you're quicker to catch on than one might think. Come on.” The herbivore lets go of his tail and walks past him to the door, hand resting on the doorknob as he glances at the wolf. “We're sneaking into the auditorium tonight so Zoe can practice.”
Taken aback, Legoshi quickly tries to reason with the red deer. “But if we get caught-”
However, Louis is having non of that and won't let the other finish. “That's why I need you to keep watch. You're not planning on refusing in order to play the straight-laced student, are you?” Seeing the hesitation in the wolf, the herbivore sighs before grabbing onto Legoshi's tie and pulling him town towards him so they're on eye-level. “That's too bad. If I promised you one of my legs in return, you'd come drooling to accept my proposal, wouldn't you?” Letting go of the timid carnivore, he opens the door this time but pauses. “You're a wolf, right? Why don't you act like it for once?” And with that he exits the room, leaving Legoshi to his own thoughts.
Later that night, Mizuchi calmly walks towards the theatre. She is typing away on her smartphone, asking her brother to come to the fountain in front of the theatre building but huffs in annoyance that he won't read it. “Probably, trying to sneak past the patrolling police.” She puts her phone into her bag for the rest of the walk, to not attract any attention with the screen-light.
At the same time, Legoshi is nervously pacing by the entrance of the theatre building and keeping watch. “Man, if this gets out, the drama club is doomed. And then I guess I'll get suspended.” The wolf is a nervous wreck and keeps looking around for any teachers or police officers. “Come on, hurry up.” However he then gets distracted by a grasshopper on the steps and slowly bends down. “What are you doing here, little buddy?” He asks as he gently picks it up. “I guess you could ask me the same.” He walks over to a small bush near the entrance and watches as it crawls onto one of the leafs.
Thud!
The sound makes Legoshi quickly stand up and look around to see where the sound could had come from. Not be able to see much in the darkness, he lifts his nose high in the air and sniffs for any scent. Suddenly he freezes. “Blood...” Sniffing the air again, his entire body starts trembling. “Herbivore blood!” A sudden need and desire courses through his body and it feels like switch had been flipped in his mind.
While that is happening, Mizuchi whines in pain. She hadn't seen the small ledge near the fountain in with the lighting and stumbled over it. Slowly getting on her feet she flinches as she sees that she scratched her leg a bit. She checks how deep it is and lets out a sigh of relief that it wasn't very deep. “It won't leave a scar...” Standing straight again she looks around. “Where the hell is that idiot?” She was about to take out her phone when her ears twitch and the fur on the back of her neck stand up. She quickly realizes that it is her instincts telling her that she is in danger and she stops all of her movements, trying to make out any sound to determine where exactly the danger is coming from. “It's approaching! From near the direction of the entrance! Run!” It's her instincts yelling in her head and without any hesitation, Mizuchi turns and runs away.
But even before the doe could far, Legoshi leaps forward and tackles her. They both roll forward before coming to a halt with Legoshi holding her captive in his embrace and Mizuchi's body not moving an inch.
“Too late.” The voice in her head uselessly informs her.
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