Chapter 25 - The Game of Life (The Second Hell Month)

Week 1

"Louis-senpai!" Legosi said, running up to the deer, who was standing at the gates of the school, just walking in. "You're back!" His tail was wagging like crazy.

Louis smiled. Of course Legosi would be the one to greet him when he got back! The wolf's arms wrapped around him. "I missed you so much."

Louis held him, his cheek against his chest. "I think I missed you more. It felt like I was gone forever. I knew I'd see you again…"

Legosi put a large hand on his head. "Please don't leave me again."

The deer looked up. "I wouldn't dream of it. I love you." He leaned up to kiss him.

Legosi put a hand in front of his face and Louis' nose hit it as his eyes opened, blinking. "Mm?"

"I thought I loved you, senpai... " Legosi mumbled, his large hand retracting. Footsteps came from behind him as Haru approached, grabbing Legosi's hand and squeezing it. "But you were gone for so long, I fell in love with Haru and we started dating. I'm sorry. I know it hurts being alone…"

Louis heard the wolf's voice echo the word "alone" around him. "Why didn't you wait for me?"

"Why wait, when I can find someone who's better and not meat from the black market?" Legosi asked. "Nobody wants tainted meat."

"You're hurting me," Louis looked down.

"Aww, poor Louis," Haru giggled, walking around him. "Is the wittle deer's feelings hurt because he got abandoned by a big bad wolf for someone who is much better and doesn't have all these problems to deal with? You're a project, admit it."

Louis stepped back. "I thought you guys were my friends...You saved me, Legosi!"

"I was dumb back then," the wolf said, beginning to walk forward. "I was just confused...I thought I loved you...and then I understood what you really were to me." He pushed Louis down onto the ground, then pounced on him. "Food!"

Louis couldn't move. He was physically unable to. The wolf opened his jaws very slowly as if to let the anticipation build up, then dug his teeth into Louis' right leg, blood spraying all over Legosi's face. He started tearing at the flesh, growling and snarling.

Louis eye opened wide as he stared up into the blackness. It was too dark to see the ceiling. He blinked and his brain told him that it had only been a dream. He sat up and felt his leg. It was completely intact.

With a sigh of relief, he laid back down on his side and stared at the square of light made by the moon from the window on the floor. He thought back to the dream and everything that occurred in it.

There was a lot of feelings to process.

Week 2

It was extremely late at night. Louis found himself unable to sleep. That was the norm lately. He laid in bed, wrapped in the blanket with his legs curled up to his chest. He found himself looking at the light on the floor, once again.

The dream from the previous week haunted Louis down to his core. It was on his mind almost nonstop. He couldn't believe that he felt that way about Legosi. There were two sides of this twisted coin.

On one hand, Louis had told Legosi he had loved him and tried to kiss him...Something Louis secretly wanted but never thought he would truly do. The feelings he experienced when he found out that Legosi had begun dating Haru in his absence were like a stab to the heart. The real Legosi didn't go off and do something like that, did he? But the most important thing was that he told the wolf he loved him…

But...Did he?

On the other hand, Legosi had begun eating him at the end. The herbivore knew exactly what this meant.

He was truly afraid of him. He may have pushed it down as far as it could go, but there was no doubting that it was there. Every time he was around Legosi, his instincts screamed at him to take off running.

And yet he always stayed.

He knew it was something about the risk of being eaten that he found...Exciting. As a herbivore, physically, hanging out with a carnivore like that meant he was one step away from death. He...liked that feeling. It was validating of his existence, somehow.

But then his own scale weighed back down to the affection side. Legosi was kind and he spoke gently. He did everything he could to protect the deer. His eyes, the way he put his hand on Louis' shoulder and rubbed it to make him feel better, the hug they shared in the darkness.

Louis didn't understand these feels quite properly. They threw themselves back in forward in his mind.

Out of nowhere, an idea struck struck him like a rock to the back of the head.

Week 3

The strange prickle of kisses across Louis' jawline jarred him out of his thoughts. In this moment was when that dream became the strongest. In the worst moment possible…

Azuki moved onto Louis, kissing his face more and more as he stared wide-eyed to nowhere in particular. He was sweating bullets as he realized that he was once again prey to someone. He was always destined to be prey to someone. His hands gripped the sheets as she kept trying to pleasure him.

He thought about how she was straddling his body, her legs on either side, hips close to his…His mind replaced her with a large male wolf he knew and that made it better but also made him feel incredibly guilty.

"Hey...Um…" He swallowed. "Azuki-san…?"

"Hm?" she looked up, seeing his face. "...You don't like it, do you?"

Louis looked at her eyes. Those kind and innocent eyes. "Well...I…I'm just thirsty…" Way to sound like a virgin…

She pulled a glass of water off the nightstand, holding it up. "Lucky for you, Shoji brought us water."

Louis' ears went back. That damn sheep is too good at his job...He took it and gulped, still feeling the tightness in his chest. They were getting married for political reasons, but there was no way he could let that happen now.

She sat there, admiring him, most likely imagining a future with them and their child. Louis felt nauseous at the thought. Where was his say in all of this? Why was she fine with a marriage like this?

She took the water from him and set it back down, then enveloped him in her arms, scooting as close as she could between his legs. He felt her slender hand move along his back under his robe, rubbing his fur this way and that.

He saw her coming in for a kiss and he just let it happen, feeling her small lips press against his, eyes closing in bliss. His one eye remained open as his nausea continued to build up.

He tried to imagine what kissing Legosi might be like. Would he feel those rough canine teeth against his own? Would Legosi's rough tongue explore his much too small mouth the best it could? These thoughts aroused him...

One thing lead to another and then he was on top of Azuki, looking down into her pleading eyes. She was ready for him, ready for her future husband to make love to her for the first time. His mind was mush as his hips moved closer. You can do this...Have sex have sex have sex have sex! Have sex with Azuki, your fellow female deer!

"Please don't leave me again." He heard dream Legosi say. Would the real Legosi say that when they saw one another again? And would he ever look down and see Legosi on the bed, just like this, with those same begging eyes…?

He was about to have sex with a female deer. "Ugh…"

Azuki's brows furrowed and her body went rigid. "Louis-san...Are you okay…?"

The male deer turned and began vomiting off the side of the bed. The one night he actually ate a full dinner and it all came up right on his floor.

Azuki gasped and sat up quickly, a hand on her heart. "Louis-san?! Are you okay?!"

Louis sprung off the bed and ran to the bathroom, going over the toilet and throwing up more..and more…It felt like his insides were spewing out of him.

Azuki was quickly by his side, her hand on his back as he continued to hurl, becoming dizzy in the process.

After what seemed like all of Louis was empty, he stared down at the mess ashamedly. "Azuki-san...I think…."

Her ears perked a bit.

"I think I'm gay…"

"..." She blinked, her hand not leaving his back. "That makes a lot of sense."

He looked at her quickly. "What?!" The sudden movement made him dizzy again, and he looked back down into the toilet. He reached up and flushed what was there and let it reset in case he needed to wretch again. The deer just stayed there, in that squatted position.

"I mean, you clearly weren't enjoying my kisses and you definitely didn't seem interested in having sex with me. Thank goodness you didn't throw up on me."

"I apologize...I just realized it and the next thing I knew...I was blowing chunks like crazy. I feel so disgusting..."

"It was disgusting," Azuki nodded. "But I'm still here for you."

"Even though I just told you…?"

"That doesn't matter, Louis-san. You needed someone and I was here."

He looked at her and a smile formed. "You're going to make a male deer very happy someday." For a short moment, he pondered whether Legosi would have been there with him while he did such a vile act. Even now, he was thinking about him.

"Thank you."

"In truth, I had a plan to get you to hate me," Louis huffed. "So you'd call off our marriage…"

"Rather than just telling me?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry…"

"You should be more worried about your father. When he finds out, he's going to be very upset."

"I don't think I'm going to tell him," Louis sighed. "Can we talk about something?"

"Sure, what is it?" The doe moved her head to look at him.

"I've never really had anyone to talk to about it before…" He looked at the toilet bowl again, then stood up. "Can we get out of this bathroom?"

"Wow. So this Legosi character...You said he was a wolf?" Azuki tilted her head.

They had moved back into the room and gotten on the bed. Both animals were sitting criss crossed and facing one another, the male in his robe and the female in her dress. Louis had explained everything that happened with Legosi and how it lead to him developing feelings. Shoji had also come in and cleaned up the mess he had made.

"Yeah...I'm sick aren't I? Being in love with a male carnivore like that…" He hugged himself and looked down. He had never craved Legosi's arms around him more than he did at that moment.

"Honestly, Louis-san, I don't think there's any issue with it," Azuki said. "You can't really control love." She laughed as she said this.

Louis looked at her. "I'm sorry I let you down."

She shook her head and put a hand on his leg. "I can only imagine everything that going in that head of yours."

"Do you...think he'd ever want to be with me?" he asked, not knowing that Legosi had asked the same thing to Bill and Dom.

Her eyes looked thoughtful. "It sounds like he has a strong attachment to you, so I don't doubt it." She laid on the bed and looked at the ceiling. "Wow, I can't believe I feel sad and I'm not even a part of this."

Louis chuckled. "It feels good to be able to talk about it, honestly... There's something else, though."

"What is it?"

"I had a dream a couple weeks ago…I had just gotten back to school after all this and Legosi was there...He told me he missed me and that I should never leave him again and I told him I loved him…" Louis messed with his fingers as he spoke. "But...Then he told me he started dating this female bunny I know and I felt really sad? After that...He started saying all these things that I would brush off if I heard them from anyone else, but coming from him…" He heard the words from dream Legosi bounce around in his head. "It ended with him calling me food and then beginning to eat me. That's when I woke up."

She had been listening with a blank expression. "You really do have a lot going through your mind."

His ears went back again as he looked down. "I know…"

"Look, I have to get going, but you can talk to me any time." She sat up. "When you get ahold of a phone, of course."

Louis sighed. "Sorry for talking your ear off about all this...What do we tell my father about the engagement?"

She started gathering her belongings and slipping her shoes on as she really thought it over. "Maybe I should hate you, just like you planned. Except this time, I'll just pretend I hate you."

Louis scratched his cheek as he moved his legs on the bed a bit. "You better make it very convincing."

"Don't worry, I'll tell her you were very rude to me, you smell like you haven't taken a shower for days, you didn't return my affections, and you made yourself throw up during my visit just to get rid of me."

"You didn't have to be so honest with the shower thing…" Louis mumbled.

"It's not like you to be unhygienic," Azuki said. "Get cleaned up after I leave and start taking care of yourself."

The male deer nodded. "Okay…"

"Hey," she came over and grabbed his hand in both of hers. "You'll see him again. I promise."

He smiled a bit and nodded a second time. He didn't know for sure, but that affirmation made him feel a bit better.

Azuki kissed his cheek. "Good luck. See you later." She started stomping to the door angrily, beginning her act. She moved angrily down the halls in loud thumps, groaning and cursing at servants passing by.

Louis laid back down with his hands behind his head, smiling. He was going to be just fine.

Week 4

Louis looked in the mirror as he tied the black tie Shoji had brought him minutes before, along with the rest of his outfit. It was the last Friday of the month, meaning he was about to have dinner with Oguma again.

He looked at the eyepatch on the left side of his face and recalled how his father had blamed him for being so weak and hiding off on the side during the Meteor Festival. It was true. He was weak. If he hadn't been standing there, then he never would have gotten kidnapped.

...And in turn, he would never have gotten closer to Legosi.

Louis was sure Oguma would have a fit over what happened with Azuki last week and the thought excited him. His "father" didn't deserve to get what he wanted. Things don't always go as planned.

The stag showed Louis that the hard way.

The deer made his way to the door, where his personal sheep butler was waiting for him. "Alright, let's go." He looked down at that compliant face and reminded himself of his plan.

He had already planted the seeds as soon as he hatched the plan. He began being a lot nicer to Shoji, complimenting him on his food and his work and making sure he kept him smiling at all times.

In truth, Shoji deserved every single bit of praise, even if the deer felt weird constantly doing it.

"You look as nice as ever, Louis-sama," Shoji told him as they walked down the hall toward the elevators.

Louis gave him a small smile. "It's the same suit as last time, but thank you."

The sheep shook his head. "But you have a different air about you this time. You seem...content."

"I discovered something about myself recently and finally knowing what it is makes me happy," Louis explained, knowing the sheep wouldn't press for details.

"That's wonderful!" Shoji chirped. "I'm so happy for you!"

Louis nodded. "Me too." He waited until they were in the elevators to speak again. "Shoji, would you maybe want to come over and play shoji with me next week?"

The sheep looked at him. "What?"

Louis shook his head. "I promise you it's not a joke based on your name. I just want to get to know my personal butler better. Play a game or two."

"I don't believe I'm allowed to participate in recreational activities…" the sheep wilted. For some reason, in that moment, Louis noted how curly his white fur was. He wondered how soft it would be to the touch.

"Fine, then I order you to come spend time with me next week," Louis said.

"Okay," the sheep nodded, still a bit weary of the order. The elevator dinged and the doors opened slowly in front of the two herbivores. They stepped out and began the trek toward the dining room.

"So, the engagement is off," Oguma stated, looking at Louis from across the long table.

"I can see why no female wanted to date you," Louis said, sticking a piece of lettuce into his mouth. "You're terrible at choosing them."

Oguma's ears perked and he huffed. "Azuki was the perfect doe for you."

"Oh really? The first time we're together and she's very sloppy and absent-minded. She stares off into space a lot. Not just that but she is too simple a woman for me to marry." He was lying, of course.

"Simple? She's praised for her intelligence!" Oguma argued.

Louis smirked at him. "It must have been my looks that threw her off."

"Do you dislike females?" his father asked suddenly, stone-faced.

Louis felt his heart skip a beat, but he kept his act up. "What makes you ask such a question?"

"She told me that you were very rude to her and that you purposefully didn't shower so you'd smell and that you made yourself throw up in order to get her to go away."

Louis continued eating. "So what if it is?"

"So I ask again, do you dislike females? Or maybe just female deer?"

"I dislike being forced to marry a woman I don't love."

Oguma lowered the food he was about to put through his lips. "You're not marrying for love."

"Then I'm not marrying at all," Louis said.

Oguma did a long exhale through his nostrils. "You can be dismissed from dinner early."

Louis stood up, just like that. "Good. I wasn't hungry, anyway." He turned on his heel and quickly left, feeling like he had finally won a battle against Oguma.

He couldn't wait for that game of shoji.