Despite two painkillers, and bandage tightly wrapped around the foot, the pain was still overwhelming.
But somehow, Louis manages to move gracefully on the scene as Adler.
The audience was exhaling a low gasp when Louis swings the sword and collides with the villains' sword.
The deer underneath the skeleton mask, pants loudly and could feel how the sweat is soaking his slender body.
He might has been the one to tell Bill and the others, to not go easy on him.
Only 'Cause he didn't wanted to be seen as a mere herbivore.
A weak animal you must touch gently, otherwise the fragile animal would break.
Which he regrets now.
It feels as he will pass out, any moment now.
The foot hurts even more today than yesterday. And most of the leg feels even numb now.
No way the foot could only be sprained... It feels more as it could be broken.
Louis grits the teeth.
The sight gets kinda blurry. And causes him to flinch for a short moment, to shake the dizziness away.
He inhales a gasp.
When he sees Pina moving toward him, he grasps the wooden sword tighter.
His brown eyes look up into blues. But the weird coldness he saw in them, makes him a slightly confused.
The bewildered deer almost misses to dodge the attack from Pina.
In last second he dodges and hits Pina with his own sword. Of course not hard, so the dall sheep would get hurted. He only made sure, the attack would look real and trick the freshmen in the audience...
Many painful moment later, the performance was finally over.
The audience starts clapping and cheering.
Louis breathes loudly, and starts smiling widely while the red curtains start falling, slowly down, to separate the stage with the audience.
...I did it!... It's finally over...
Louis pants heavily. He couldn't feel the leg anymore.
Now, I only need do the curtain call and-...
The curtains had almost covered completely, when Louis sways to the side, where he falls.
The deer thuds down on the cold floor.
The last things he could hear, is how animals around him, start running toward him, while shouting his name.
And while he feels a pair of hands on him, he passes out...
***
Louis grunts while regaining consciousness.
Even though he hasn't even opened the eyes, he could hear someone to gasp and approaching him.
The deer hums asking and opens the eyes slowly.
At first it was in blur. Something grayish in the view.
Then the sight got clear and he could see, Legoshi leaning a slightly over him. With worried eyes while eyeing the feeble deer, whose cheeks start regaining some color.
"Louis-senpai!"
Louis smiles gently up at him.
"Hi, Legoshi-..."
The wolf pouts with low whimper.
"Why did you said you were fine... When you weren't?" He asks confused, while the ears lowered.
"The nurse said you have a fracture in the leg..." The wolf adds.
The deer drops the smile.
" 'Cause I-..." he starts saying, when the door swings opened and startled him and Legoshi.
While many members of the drama club enter, Legoshi moves a slightly away from the bed and clears the throat.
"Louis-kun, you are awake..." The pelican points out and exhales in relief.
The deer sits up while the group approach him. It was first now, he notices the IV, whose tube is attached to the back of his hand.
Bill nods.
"You really surprised us, when you passed out..."
Louis gives Bill a nervous smile, then he looks seriously at Sanu.
"Did anyone saw me collapse?"
Sanu jolts a slightly. Then he shakes the head.
"Lucky us, you'd passed out, in right time... No one in the audience, did found out..."The pelican tells him.
Louis let's out a short breathe of relief.
"Good-..." he says, before he tilts the head down. What about the next performance? There is no way he would be in good shape to the next one. Not since it's supposed to be performed tomorrow...
The president of the club looks thoughtfully down on the bed where Louis' feet are covered, underneath the blanket.
"The question is... What will we do with the next performance?... Should we maybe cancel, since Louis cannot perform?"
The members of the club, get a gloomy aura over them for a few seconds.
Bill smiles widely and points at himself.
"I know-..." he says cheerfully and gets almost everyone's attention. Except Louis'.
The Bengal tiger inhales deeply.
"I can take over Louis' role, and therefore we don't need canceling the show..." he adds suggesting and lowered the hand.
Sanu raises an eyebrow.
"...But-... Who would take your role then?" The pelican asks and glances at Louis. Trying to get any sign, it would be alright to give Bill, his role.
Since Louis wasn't even looking up at them, the pelican inhales.
"What do you think Louis-kun?... Should we cancel the show? Or give your role to Bill?...Or to someone else?" Sanu asks with a low sigh.
The startled deer looks asking at him. Then Louis looks around at the members of the club.
Why do everyone look pitying on him? Do they really think he is weak?! A mere herbivore you must be gentle with?
The deer wides the eyes.
He hates this!
Why do they treat him as a child? A weakling who cannot take care of himself...
He is, Louis the red deer... A candidate to be the next beastar.
Despite he could feel the anger inside, Louis nods.
"Yes-... Since the show must go on, I'm sure Bill would suit the role..." he answers and tries sounding as the strong animal he wants to be seen as.
Bill brights happily up and burst out a short sound of pure joy.
"Thank you Louis-senpai... I won't let you down!"
Sanu hums thoughtfully.
"And who will take over Bill's role?" The pelican asks and caused Kai to volunteer. Hoping he would get back to the actor pool again.
Louis smiles and gives Legoshi a side-look.
"Legoshi will take over the role..."The deer says, and totally ignored the mongoose.
"Whaaaat?! Why him!?" Kai protests.
Legoshi swallows hardly. No way he would be able to perform. He isn't an actor like Louis. His part of the team, is to take care of the lights and help Riz with the background, etc.
The wolf starts stirring up a little.
Louis exhales a gentle breathe.
"I know he would be perfect for the role... I trust him" he smiles.
The deer looks smiling toward Legoshi.
"Don't worry Legoshi... You will be great... I know you have a hidden talent to perform..."
Legoshi stops stirring and blinks confused.
"Y-you T-think?" He gulps.
Louis nods.
"I do-... Make me proud"
***
It's the next day where the audience start filling the empty chairs.
Legoshi starts walking back and forth in the backstage. Feeling extremely nervous.
What if he messes up and let's Louis down?!
At first he didn't noticed, where was another nervous animal among the club members.
How Bill is feeling anxious over the lead role as Adler. Sitting alone in the changing room, to get ride of the nervousness, without any eyes on him... There he also found a small gift from an unknown sender. A bottle with blood...
But who could blame him?... Filling Louis' shoes isn't easy, and everyone are expecting to see the deer walking out on stage today... There is a high risk, everyone will be disappointed to see Bill instead of Louis...
Legoshi grabs the manuscript and sits down, where he starts rereading the lines again.
The wolf isn't paying any attention that, Louis is around and walks toward the room where Bill is.
The deer walks forward with the help of crutches.
He opened the door and notices how nervous Bill gets. But also kinda relieved?
The tiger let's out a short laugh from the chair, in front the mirror.
"Are you here to see me fail thoroughly?-... Or you will perhaps give me, last minute advice?... Or are you maybe about to screw me the role, in last moment and take Adler back?" The Bengal tiger asks seriously, and looks through the mirror at Louis.
There is a short moment of silence.
Then Bill puts on a smile, to brush the awkward moment away.
"I'm kidding~" he adds and turns around to look directly at him.
Louis scoffs smiling.
"Neither-... I'm only here to ask you, if you are ready to carry the curse the Adler will give you?... I might have broken the leg... But it might be easier to endure, then carry the duties of Adler..." he tells the tiger.
Bill nods.
"Don't worry-... I'm ready to greet the audience and give them a performance they will always remember"
Louis starts examining him and couldn't see much hesitation.
The deer sighs.
"Good-... Then I won't bother you anymore..." he says and turns around, where he is about to struggle to get the door opened.
Bill flinched up from the chair.
"Wait!-... Let me help you..."
***
The moment Bill walks into the same room as Legoshi, the wolf flinched the face up from the manuscript.
While he starts sniffing the air, Sanu greets Bill and starts saying few things.
The canine's nose picks up the scent of blood from Bill.
Legoshi stands up and moves toward Bill, where he keeps sniffing.
While his nose brushes on Bill, the tiger gets nervous over his weird behavior.
"L-legoshi, what?-..." The nervous tiger asks and gets a bit pale, while trying to keep Legoshi's face away from him.
The wolf keeps sniffing and inhales deeply. Deer... The blood of a deer.
Legoshi flinched and looks up at Bill.
"Bill-... You..." he grits the fangs and stares angrily at him, while growling silently.
Sanu hums asking and tries figuring out what Bill and Legoshi do.
The wolf exhales a heavy breath.
"What have-..." he adds asking when Bill jolts.
"Ow-... I need to hit the toilet... I'll soon be back..." The tiger lies and runs away in hurry, toward the restroom.
Legoshi grunts and starts following him.
He swings the door opened to the toilets, where the a slightly relieved Bill, flinched.
The tiger grunts surprised.
"Eh?... Why did you followed me here?!"
The wolf glares accusing at him and closes the door behind him.
"That blood-..."
Bill wides the eyes.
"What blood?" He gulps.
Legoshi nods toward his chest.
"The blood you are hiding under the costume..."
Bill starts grinning and takes the small bottle out.
"I'm impressed-... It seems I couldn't trick the famous nose of a canine..." he chuckles and holds the bottle up in the hand.
"Do you want a sip?"
Legoshi stares shocked at the blood. It was obviously blood from a deer... Not only that, it smells as Louis?!
"Where-... Where have you got that blood?!" Legoshi asks and start trembling from anger.
The tiger shrugs nonchalantly.
"I got it from some old friend of mine... He didn't need it... And I thought, I could use it to the performance... You know... A mere doping to relax and give the audience an awesome show" he smirks lying. He isn't sure where the bottle came from, but he is kinda sure the gift was from an herbivore... Which sounds ridiculous... Well well... The blood might comes in handy and decrease his nervousness.
Legoshi grits the teeth.
"A mere doping?!" He spits out.
Bill shrugs.
"Yeah-... It's nothing... Now, forget what you have seen and-..." The tiger starts saying and was about to walk out from the restroom.
Legoshi flinched the arm swiftly and grabbed Bill's shoulder.
"I know that blood is Louis-senpai's... You have no right to drink his blood..."
Bill glares at him.
"Oh?-... You knew?... Then... Does that means, you are the reason he broke his leg from the beginning?"
Legoshi grunts surprised and loosen the grip of Bill.
Bill scoffs.
"Tell me Legoshi... Was you about to devour him?... You did? Didn't you... And that's why you have started behaving weirdly around him, where he also has been abnormal?!... " The tiger asks and yanks Legoshi's clothes, by his chest.
Bill stares, face to face, at him.
"It seems-... You and I, aren't so different as I thought... We are the same... Carnivores who longs after the juiciness of an herbivore's meat..."
The shocked wolf shakes the head in protest.
There is no way Bill and he could be the same... He doesn't even wants to eat meat.
"Y-you have wrong..." he gulps.
Bill raises an eyebrow, then he snorting let's go of Legoshi.
"See ya on stage Legoooshiii~" the tiger says and walks out from the restroom.