Sorry for the late update, just busy with school works lately.
Comment for any grammatical errors, supports, and criticisms. Every comment is accepted.
Anyways, on with the story!
——
A day after the performance...
“Extra, extra! We've got everything you need to know about the two performances! It's a special edition!” The seller of the newspaper called out while holding a bunch of rolled up newspaper about the performance. Students who bought the newspaper scanned it as if there was no tomorrow. They talked about the performance, warping the story to the point that it just makes no sense. Even other students believed it and passed it down to others, making the fake story spread like a virus.
Jack kept walking through the halls of the academy. Lunches in hand, he slowed down his pace once he passed a group of students talking about the perfromances, “Wow that wolf is scary!”
“I couldn't show up to either perfromance,” a female gazelle noted, keeping an eye on the newspaper.
“What?! I saw both perfromances!” The female gazelle turned to her friend, “Really?! How was it?”
“It was amazing! They were punching, kicking and stabbing each other! 'Till the wolf shot the tiger with a machine gun and set him on fire!” her friend mimicked the actions with his hands for more damatic effect which made Jack quicken his pace again.
Whoa, whoa, he's warping the events too much! I need to hurry...
After a few minutes of walking, he reached the rooftop of the building that has a dry, unused, olympic pool with a certain large grey wolf sitting on the lower ledge of the pool.
He sat beside Legoshi and gave him two egg sandwiches before Jack pulled out his own bread, “Here are our lunches!”
Legoshi turned his wolfy gaze at the lab, “Thanks...” he mumbled, removing the wrappings of one egg sandwich and freeing it from it's restraints, “You were right at not going to the cafeteria, Legoshi.”
“I figured... What does everyone think about it?”
“Your act of violent rage is on the front of the school newspaper and everyone's buying a copy so it's selling out,” Jack munched on his food as Legoshi's eyes widened, “Th- the front? Of the newspaper? You... You're kidding right?”
“I'm not,” Jack pulled out a newspaper and smiled. Upon seeing the newspaper, Legoshi reeled back with a sweat and scrunched eyebrows, “They even got some nice pictures of you!”
Your smile was twitching a bit, though...
“Thought I'd buy one for the occasion!” Still with a smile, Jack started skimming through it as Legoshi beside him relaxed and stared at him.
Legoshi's confused as to why Jack was still treating him like a friend, maybe Jack saw the performance? He still treats Legoshi like nothing happened as usual. Maybe he doesn't know that Legoshi's acting wasn't acting at all.
Jack chuckled, pulling Legoshi out of his thoughts, “You know, this is a great picture! I didn't know you and Louis-senpai were such good friends.”
“Oh, we're not... There was just some stuff that happened that led to that article being made...”
Half true.
“Huh?” Jack raised a brow, turning to look at his best friend, “Uh, well... Louis-san is just amazing so to speak...” he's always causing him so trouble to the point of his courage vanishing into thin air everytime he tried to look at Louis' eyes.
... ... ... ... ...
“You two really threw him for a loop there.”
Legoshi and Bill stood awkwardly, facing Louis who's leaning on a pillar behind the lecture hall, “You could scuffle here if you want. But how can you have the nerve to pull out a stunt like that expect me to understand it?”
“Well, um, I don't... Really know where to start...” Bill stuttered out. Legoshi's ears folded against his skull, though it slightly flicked when Louis came to speak again, “Bill, I admittedly don't care that you drank herbivore blood just to pump yourself. It was a coincidence that I heard about it anyway.”
“You see, unlike Legoshi, I never expected you to have good integrity on the first place. The real problem...” Louis narrowed his eyes at the two and he knitted his brows in frustration, “Is that you two spilled blood on the stage like a bunch of stupid and irresponsible monsters!”
“If he didn't stop you there, would you have tried to kill each other?! Now he's passed out there because of you two!” He added, Bill's gaze transfixed behind his back, “S-senpai...” Bill tried to talk but got cut off, “Your insolence surpasses reason... This is an order from the leader of the actor team. Both of you are definitely suspended.”
“I don't want to hear any excuses, you better not come to practice tomorrow. Normally, I would have had you two kicked out of the club...” Now both Legoshi and Bill are staring behind Louis with an evident stress on their face, “Uhm, look behind you.”
“Eek! There they are!”
“Louis-senpai!”
“Wolf-kun!”
“Tiger-san!”
“You're so cool!”
“We've been waiting for so long!”
“Please give me an autograph!”
Amidst the crowd of animals, the PR team member pulled out a small notepad, “Were you in the middle of something?! I'm from the PR team and I'd like to hear your thoughts about today's performance! Would you like to give me some sort of time?”
Cameras flashed, phones were held up high, “Look this way please Louis-san!” The animals over the commotion said as they took pictures of the three for an article or to post into social media. This getting in social media? They'll be doomed, “Um, Louis-san... What should we do about this?”
“Louis-san please give me your thoughts!”
Unbelievably, at that moment, Louis looked hesitant, like an 18-year-old boy normally would. Not a second passed as Louis regained his irritated demeanor and started glaring at Legoshi and Bill, “Listen closely you two.”
“I am withdrawing my order...” Louis' nerve twitched, “The performance was a success and to keep it a success, we will act like there were no problems got it?!” Legoshi's ears relaxed, “Y-yeah, okay...” he replied.
A heavy tenseion hung in the air as the crowd asked questions, “The sudden change by the play's plot, that didn't happen by accident right?” Louis turned to the crowd, but instead of a forelonging glare and knitted eyebrows, plastered on his face was a smile, “Yes of course! We had it all planned out.”
Louis pushed the two with a hard grip on Bill's back shirt and a tight squeeze on Legoshi's shoulder, “Right! Everyone in the audience must have been surprised!” The PR team member snapped a picture, “Of course. The performance in general, was a great challenge for all of us,” still with a smile, Louis looked at Legoshi, “And I believe it was very important for the underclassmen...”
“The world we live in is very complex. The animals in this world like to keep secrets. They try hard to persevere in something and face all kinds of conflict. But in the midst of that, everyone is living life to the fullest. For that, there is no right or wrong.”
“But if someone were to have a certain conviction, they would surely shine like stars. That's what I think,” he added, “Even if they happened to be rude or immature... That conviction would shine through. I think that message was presented very well to the underclassmen.”
Louis gave a small pat after he loosened his grip at Legoshi's shoulder, “That'll be enough out of me. You can ask more questions from these two...”
“Oh, hey Louis-san! Wait! There are some more things I want to hear from you!”
“Give me your autograph!”
Louis turned to leave, though he and Legoshi shared a brief meeting stare which made Legoshi wonder, Louis-senpai. Were those words aimed at me?
I just went and destroyed that performance. Did I have some kind of conviction?
“Conviction...” He mumbled, though he didn't notice, it was loud enough for Jack to hear. Jack leaned in closer, “What's this about conviction?”
“Oh I just... Ah, nevermind,” Legoshi stuttered back, unsure if he shoukd really tell Jack, “So Legoshi,” at the mention of his name, Legoshi looked at his canine friend, “Are you not angry anymore?”
“Angry?”
“Yeah, since that brawl you had wasn't acting right?”
Shocked, Legoshi's eyes went wide as plates, his hand freezed and his egg sandwich fell to the floor, “What?! B-but how did you know?”
Jack wasn't surprised at Legoshi's remark, instead he pointed to the egg sandwich on the floor, “Hey, don't drop your food! Well, it'd be strange if I didn't know right? We've known each other for years!”
Jack picked up the sandwich calmly and handed it Legoshi, “Hey, three-second rule! You can eat it,” the wolf moved his hand to take the sandwich from Jack's grasp before the lab spoke, “You better cheer up. When you let something get to you, you tend to get depressed easily.”
Legoshi just took back his sandwich without even muttering a word to reply since he knew Jack was right, he does get depressed easily whenever he thinks so much about something. He took a bite out of his egg sandwich and he started eating the piece of food inside his mouth, “I wanted to stay like that.”
“Huh?”
“Always feeling down and getting up on my own... Living without anyone knowing how I feel. But yesterday was different. For the first time in my life, I felt that I just couldn't let it go. I wanted to vent my anger, even if it meant throwing the stage into chaos” he declared, standing up and walking a few steps into the middle of the pool.
“I didn't want to control myself... 'Cause these feelings I have only belong to me... Eh, it's hard to say.” he shrugged his shoulders, feeling uncertain, but Jack wasn't. Hearing Legoshi say those words... It made Jack feel happy and proud for his friend, He's changed...
“I think it's fine to have times like that. Do you not like it?” Legoshi thought about it, mumbling a “Hmm...” while his thoughts began to roam his mind, “I do like it... But that's what I don't like.”
“...”
Out of humor, Jack chuckled, “Don't be such a stick in the mud,” he also stood up and gave Legoshi a pat on the shoulder, “I think it's great! You're the liveliest you've ever been, Legoshi!”
“You think so?”
“Yeah! I think you're perfectly fine! Let's go back to class.”
After both finishing the talk, they trotted down the stairs from the rooftop. The usual sound of the hallway filled with animals going about their way greeted them as they finally made it out of the stairway. The sun lightly shone on their faces, it felt warm against their fur.
“Well, honestly, I've been worried about you since you've been looking worn-out lately. Is there a special reason for it?”
A special reason...
“Well, I don't know...” Legoshi replied, but he stopped on his tracks. He gazed at the clouds rolling by, the archs of the open window sometimes blocking the view of the clouds.
While Legoshi stopped, Jack kept walking, “Maybe love?” Jack suggested, and then he started swinging his hips, singing a merry tune, “Oh my tail's swingin' maybe I'm in love... Le-Le-Legoshi.”
Realization finally dawned.
Jack froze, he stopped singing and his eyes are wide with his mouth agape. He looked back at Legoshi who's frozen too l, but he seemed to be thinking about what he said, “Huh?!” Jack rushed back to Legoshi, “Legoshi. Se-seriously?! Really?! You've never been in love for the past 17 years of your life! And now you're finally in love?!”
Legoshi purposely started walking faster, “We need to get back to class. Fifth period is about to start.”
“So, who is it?! Is she one of the wolves in our class? Hm, well... Four? Oh! I narrowed it down to quite a bit!”
“Uh-huh... That sure is something.”
“What?! So it's not a wolf?! Is it even a canine?!”
~~~~Infirmary~~~~
Beep, Beep, Beep
Shima groaned in the uncomfortable bed and turned a little to the side, “Oh? Are you awake?” a girly voice asked
My body hurts all over...
He groaned again, he finally opened his eyes, but the first thing he saw is just blinding light. He sat on his bed and immediately started questioning everything, “Eh? Where am I?”
The nurse chuckled while keeping hold of her clipboard, “You're at the infirmary... You've been out for hours,” the sheep gestured with her small, furry hands, “What time is it?”
She started tapping her chin as if in thought, “Hmm... Just about afternoon.”
“How long have I been out?”
“About a day,” she replied before she walked away with a small smile on her face. She stopped by the window just to peer through it and her smile widened even more, “Everyone's talking about the performance.”
She looked back at Shima who displayed a stressed expression, “A day?! Mom's supposed to call today! Wait,” he started looking around in distress, “Wheres my phone?”
“Here,” out of nowhere the nurse popped up at the side of his bed, sometimes he wonders if she's just a normal animal or if she has some teleportation powers, “Thanks,” he took his phone and opened it.
He was greeted by a message notification,
I'm sorry I couldn't call, I have too much to do. But congratulations on the performance! I heard from other people here that it was amazing! I'll just catch up another time 'kay? Is the rumors about a wolf and a tiger fighting at the performance true?
Shima scratched his head after reading his mother's message. It took him about a second before he typed in a reply,
Mom, the fight was... Kinda true. But thanks for the congratulations. Can you send me some of the baking equipment I used back there? I kinda need it for my baking class.
He tapped send. A total of five minutes passed before a ding chimed,
Sure I'll send the equipments. I also deposited a few amounts into your card ;)
Just as he was about to close the messaging app, another notification came in,
Ten thousand yen was safely deposited into your account. Happy banking!
His eyes widened at the amount, his mother never had this much money... Or really? Maybe she hid an incredible amount of money after all this years.
He silently got up from the bed, got his bag on the floor, and went out of the infirmary, he swore he heard the nurse shout a, “Be safe!” before he closed the door.
He walked silently at the halls, just him and his thoughts. The clouds rolled by at the window beside him but he paid no mind into it, what he's really worried is if Legoshi and Louis is okay.
He got to their dorm and instantly went to their kitchen to munch on his muffins that he bought the other day, the ones he baked were already finished.
Dear Legoshi and Louis, I hope you two are okay... I miss the both of you already... If you only know how much I want to-
He shook his head out of his thoughts and instead looked at the rays of warm orange light softly hitting the hard surface of the table, It's hot today... But I still want to see them.
~~~~
“How long are you gonna read that newspaper?”
The small white rabbit, Haru, flipped a page on the newspaper at her hands, “Hm... Well, there's just someone I know here...”
A brown furred hand suddenly grasped hers, “What's wrong with you? You seem kind of down. Have things not gone your way lately?”
“Your reluctance to pry someone is one of your good traits isn't it?” Louis, who sat on the bed and held Haru's hand, began undoing his neck tie, “Come here.”
They shared a kiss full of uncertainty, insincerity, and full of lust. It became heated as toungues started to get involved.
Louis, Legoshi, Shima, this story revolves around them and their ever forming bond of feelings and emotions.
This is where the real show starts.