Song of the Beasts (Beastars)

Pass the Spotlight

It was late at night and Louis was still unconscious. The entire drama club was gathered around his bed in the infirmary. Mari stood next to Legoshi. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was actually worried about Louis, though she was still annoyed at how reckless he was.

After what seemed like forever, he finally stirred and sat up.

"Did the audience see anything?" He asked.

"No, the curtain closed before you collapsed." Sanu told him. He was relieved. As he looked at the others around him, his eyes locked with disappointed sapphire ones. He would more than likely get an earful from her later.

"It's already eight o'clock at night. The nurse said your leg is broken, a stress fracture." Bill informed him. "You're really in no condition to get back on stage.

Everyone began to talk amongst themselves about what will happen now. 

"Hey!" He said as everyone looked at him. "Is one injury all it takes to treat me like some kind of defenseless herbivore?" His tone was bitter. He looked at everyone before speaking again. "It's fine. Bill, you will replace me as Adler. Think you're up for it?"

As everyone left to prepare for tomorrows show, Mari stayed behind, sitting on the edge of the bed. For a while neither she nor Louis said anything.

"I gotta hand it to you," Mari spoke as Louis looked at her profile. "You lasted way longer than I thought." She smirked, Louis did the same.

"How long did you think I would last?"

"Honestly, after I watched you go down at the beginning, I thought that was it. I'll admit, you covered it pretty well. If I didn't know you were hurt, I would have never been able to tell at all." They both laughed, this was a rare moment. Ever since they had first spoken after years apart, it seemed as if they were both walking on eggshells around each other. 

"But you still think I'm stupid for pushing myself too hard?" 

"Oh definitely." Another small bout of laughter was shared between the two. With Mari, Louis felt like he could loosen up and let his guard down, mostly because she could see right through him. She then stood and stretched. "Alright, well, it's late. Get some rest, okay." Before she could leave, Louis grabbed her wrist.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For not fussing over me like everyone else, and actually talking to me like a normal animal. It's...refreshing." At that moment, Mari was actually somewhat happy that she gave Louis a second chance to be part of her life again. Despite the facade he put up in public, he was still the same deer she remembered from childhood. She gave his forehead a light tap.

"Goodnight, Louis." She gave him a soft smile as she left. Louis could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He had this same feeling as a kid but didn't understand it at the time. Now that he was older, he finally understood. 

When Mari left the infirmary, she found Legoshi waiting outside for her. He didn't seem to notice her yet, his attention was on a cricket perched on his hand. She decided to have a little fun. She snuck up behind in him and jumped on his back, throwing her arms around his neck. Legoshi was startled for a second, but when he caught her scent, paired with her laughter, he calmed down. He quietly chuckled as she let go and landed on the ground.

"Sorry about that, Legoshi. I saw the opportunity and had to take it." He had small smile and lightly pat her head.

"It's fine. You just surprised me is all." The two stared at each other for a moment, Legoshi found himself swimming in her eyes. He realized what he was doing before he looked away, his cheeks becoming warm. "I-Is there something on my face?"

Mari giggled. "No, its not that. I just realized that you have a nice smile. You should show it more often, y'know." She began walking as Legoshi stood there staring after her. 

'S-She thinks I have a nice smile.' His heart beat hard against his chest. 

"Legoshi, keep up." She called to him. He quickly caught up to her. "So now that Bill is the lead, who's gonna take his part?" Mari asked and Legoshi sighed. 

"Well, since Bill and I are close in height, they put he in his role."

"You don't sound very enthusiastic about it." 

"This will be my first time doing this. I think it's a bad idea. What if I screw up?"

"You won't." Mari said, he looked at her in surprise. 

"H-How do you know?"

"I have faith in you. Don't worry too much and you'll do great." Legoshi smiled and pat her head again. 

"Thank you, Mari." She beamed at him.

"You're welcome." They soon reached their dorms and went their separate ways for the night. Legoshi kept Mari's words close to his heart. His tail wagging happily. He felt more confident now.

The next day, Mari help Legoshi with his costume. She adjusted his cape and wrapped the cloth around his face. She had to admit, it looked really good on him.

 The entire time, Legoshi held his breath. Her scent attacked his nose and her hands were careful as they adjusted his costume. When his scene came, she wished him luck.

"Mari, I hope you don't see me differently after this." He walked on stage, leaving Mari confused. 

'What's he talking about?' She was shocked when Legoshi punched Bill, so hard that he was sent flying. Everyone stood there shocked as Legoshi landed hit after hit on Bill.

"What the hell is he doing?" Mari heard someone behind her say. She was confused as well, what happened that made Legoshi act like this? As Legoshi landed another punch, something flew from Bill's coat and landed at Mari's feet. It was a small vile with red liquid in it. Mari picked up and turned it to the label. Her eyes grew in shock. The label read Homosapien. From what little Mari knew of her species, one thing she did know was that Homosapien was the scientific name for Human. 

Her blood ran cold. Bill was doping with human blood? Where did he even get this? Louis came up beside her and saw her horrified expression.

"Is that?" She nodded and showed him the label. He also knew what that name meant. Louis growled as he watched Legoshi continued his assault on the tiger. Before they knew it, Bill had Legoshi in a grip and ran his claws across the wolfs back, giving him stripes.

His blood fell on the stage and Bill dropped him. Legoshi laid there, breathing hard. Bill walked to him and put his foot on his chest. 

Before she could stop him, Louis grabbed a sword and his mask and walked on stage. Just as Bill was about to actually stab Legoshi, Louis sent his sword flying. He began reciting his lines, as if he was Adler and Bill was the villain. To the audience, this looked like part of the show. Louis eventually drove Bill off and helped Legoshi stand. They stood there as the crowd cheered. 

Mari, however, was still in shock. She couldn't even believe what she just witnessed. She looked at the vile in her hand and could feel a headache coming on. Bill was doping on human blood, Legoshi just nearly got himself killed and Louis was walking on his broken ankle. This was too much to deal with. 'Are all males this stupid?'