[HIATUS] G o l d e n [[Louis x OC]] ; Beastars

Chapter 8

So I know this scene really takes place during breakfast time, but for the sake of the story and my laziness to change what I already wrote (lol) it's gonna be lunchtime.

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"Are you okay?" a certain hybrid asked her friend as they walked to the cafeteria to get their lunch.

The deer blinked at the girl, "Hmm?"

"You seem out of it," Katsumi stated after noticing that Louis has been in his thoughts more than usual and has been taking his time walking the halls from class to class. Normally it's Katsumi who has to keep up with the brisk pace of her friend's stride--he walks as if he always has somewhere to be before everyone else. Today, though, he's been moving slowly and constantly wearing a look of discomfort on his face when he thinks no one is looking at him. Katsumi would be a bad friend, and frankly terrible at her past job--which she was not--if she didn't notice the subtle things.

"I'm fine." he lied.

Katsumi narrowed her eyes at her friend, "Did something happen last night with Legosi and Zoe?"

For a brief second Louis let his blank expression falter and be taken over by surprise. His hazel eyes slightly widen and eyes shifted away from Katsumi's presence. She was right on the money with that question. The red deer had no idea how his friend was able to guide herself through his thoughts so easily like she was able to see straight through him. He's either more transparent than he realizes or she somehow knows just how to read him.

The events of the previous night are exactly what he wanted to keep from the hybrid. He hurt his ankle pretty badly last night from sheltering that bumbling goat from his fall and he played it off like it wasn't too bad, but this morning it was swollen and starting to change color from Louis's orche fur to slightly purple indicating bruising. The last thing he wanted Katsumi to know about last night was that he got hurt. Knowing her she'd overreact and force him to take it slow during rehearsals and might even suggest him sitting the play out, but he cannot do that. He absolutely won't!

If he tells her she might tell Sanu and make it impossible for him to dispute it. It doesn't take a Ph.D. for someone to take one look at his ankle and come to the conclusion that he should not be on it for one second longer. As much as he loathes lying to her, he hates the way she'd look at him more. Louis got a taste of that last night when the grey wolf came and hovered over Louis's fallen figure with a distressed expression as if he were simply a frail, injured herbivore in desperate need of help. He didn't need anyone's help, he can handle himself just fine.

Louis brushed off the second year as fast as he could, but Katsumi? She wouldn't understand why he needs to put this performance above everything else. If she found out she'd join to him by the hip, and he didn't know if he could take her looking at him even remotely similar to how Legosi did.

"No, nothing unusual. Are you going to practice his fight scenes soon?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, we agreed on tomorrow morning." she decided not to push her concerns further just yet.

"Good."

The two walked into the cafeteria making their way to the lunch line to get their meal. While Louis waved to the animals who called out to him and talked to the group ahead of them, Katsumi let her eyes wander and land on a certain wolf boy. He wasn't far from where they stood. The line began to move up which allowed for Katsumi to see him and his roommates and not just their backs. It appeared as if they were all eating their lunch but upon further inspection, Katsumi noticed that while Legosi's roommates were eating he wasn't. He was just sitting in his seat staring down at his paw as his friends spoke to him. It appeared as if he were in a trance of some kind.