DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Characters.
Attention: This fic takes place at the end of Season 1 of the animated series. I know there is a Manga which has 6 parts in the meanwhile, but I´ve never read them so I really don't know how much my version is going to be different from the original. I just watch the animated series and that´s what this is based on at the moment.
There will be a lot of Mature content coming up! Also: yaoi.
DON'T BLAME ME FOR READING IT! You have been warned!
Beastars – Into the spotlight
Chapter 1 – Shakespeare´s greatest tragedy
POV Juno
"One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two…Legoshi! Put your arm around her waist, you´re forgetting the arm again! …one, two, three, four, one, two, three…"
We´ve practised this part of the performance for the fifth time in a row now, and slowly but surely it seemed like he was forgetting it on purpose. He still seemed just so afraid of getting closer to me.
"Come on, Romeo!" Sanu, the pelican and head of the drama club told him, "…you´re hopelessly in love with Juliet! The audience has too feel that too you know?! You have to look more attached to her!"
"I don't understand why I´m even still in the actor´s team" he panted exhaustedly, and I sensed a tiny bit of rage boiling up in his voice again, "And why do I get a main role in the first place? Isn´t Romeo supposed to be played by somebody like Louis? Somebody who the people want to see on stage?"
"People want to see you on stage!" I told him loudly, as I have before a couple of times already. Most of the drama club members agreed with me on that point, but he still didn't want to believe it.
"…and Louis isn´t here, he´s missing ever since the summer festival!"
Legoshi just sighed about it once again. He knew it simply was the truth. He was our only hope for this role.
Now he finally reached out for my paws and we began with the choreography again.
"Oh my beautiful Juliet!" he said his part, this time a little louder "…why oh why did I have to be born a Montague? Why did you have to be a Capulet?"
"Oh Romeo, Love is heavy and light, bright and dark, hot and cold, sick and healthy, asleep and awake – its everything except what it is…" I said my lines.
This time he remembered to put his arms around my waist and we got a really nice flow into it finally.
"Good, good…" Sanu commented concentratedly, "Now keep on dancing towards the edge of the stage so Mercutio can have his entrance. Legoshi, your next appearance is just a few moments later, get ready for the transition!"
He nodded tiredly but did what he was told. Although what he was doing still felt just like 80% to me, he finally got into the flow slowly but surely. When our dance was finished, I stayed off the stage and watched him getting right back out there after his next keyword-que, performing the second scene between Romeo and Mercutio, who was played by Aoba the white eagle, which he also did very well in the meanwhile. This time, Sanu even seemed genuinely happy about how well the transition went.
"This time it´s real, Mercutio!" Romeo told him, sounding out of breath, which he really was actually, "She´s the love of my life! I know it! No matter the challenges I have to face, I know she can be my only one!"
"She´s a Capulet, Romeo" Aoba answered loudly, "Romeo! Some things are just not meant to be!"
"I could never love another girl but her! It has to be!"
The more I watched them play, the more I wished it really was like that. Legoshi and I are supposed to be together! Two wolves, playing on stage together in the drama-club, being the most perfect couple of the entire school. Everybody would know about us and everybody would talk about us.
I just snapped out of my daydreaming when Sanu called everybody into the middle for a few minutes of break-time and a team-meeting. I haven´t even noticed they were at the end of their scene already.
"Bill" Samou reminded the tiger who played Juliet´s uncle Tybalt in our interpretation of the play, "You and Legoshi have to practise the fight between Tybalt and Romeo a bit more later. Your last fight on the stage looked very believable…but just a bit too brutal…"
"Yeah…I really shouldn´t damage his back any further" he chuckled ironically, "Ain´t that right, Romeo?"
Legoshi didn´t find that sort of humour too funny actually, but the other actors couldn´t hide a little chuckle about it either.
"But it has to come across that Tybalt really dies at the end of the fight. That´s why we have the matrass behind that mountain back there" Samu explained, "Legoshi! Don't hesitate and really kick him off the mountain at the end, Bill will land safely and unharmed."
Legoshi nodded hesitantly.
"Come on!" Bill grinned at him while punching his shoulder gently, "I can handle it! It´s not like you where shy of beating me up last time…"
It seemed like Legoshi really hated being reminded about it. Too bad I never saw that notorious performance of "The grim reaper" everybody kept talking about. But he didn´t say anything about it either, he just nodded with another tired little sigh.
"You two are just perfect for those roles" I commented, nevertheless with a motivating smile.
"Well…I could have played Romeo as well you know" Bill ironically complained once again.
"I think it will be a great success, even without Louis…" I stated.
"I think so too" Aoba agreed, "It´s looking pretty promising so far. You two have quite the presence on stage…"
Legoshi still just shrugged his shoulders with a tiny little smile about that compliment.
Samu turned towards the guys from the art-department in the meanwhile. "How far are we with the decorations for the Balcony?" he wanted to know, "Have you been talking to the gardening club about the flowers already?"
That was the exact moment when Legoshi´s ears perked up and his tail began wagging a little. I was not the only one who looked at him right now.
"Legoshi said he got that covered already…" Kai the mongoose told him with a shrug of his shoulders, "He just still has to go get them…"
"Legoshi has to continue practicing with the actors" Samu told him plainly, "Kai, please go get them so the art-department can get on with the stage decorations."
"Ugh…" he sighed in annoyance, "Fine."
I was pretty sure Legoshi would have gladly volunteered to go get them right now, in fact, he already was gesturing, but luckily he got stopped in time. He had much more important business here than flirting with that little dwarf rabbit girl. The premiere was scheduled to be in less than a month from now.
POV Haru
Legoshi had already told me they needed a few flowers to decorate the stage once again, but I also was expecting him to pick them up himself instead of sending somebody else from the art-department.
"Oh hello" I greeted the mongoose who knocked at the door this late in the afternoon, "You must be from the drama club…?"
"I am" he confirmed dryly, "I was told to get some flowers here…"
"Uhm…yeah…sure" I said while waving him to follow me in the garden.
"So…this is the place he hangs out all the time?" he asked curiously.
"Excuse me?"
"Legoshi" he said as if it should be obvious, "He told me you already knew about the flowers for the balcony we needed…"
"Oh, yes. I´m sorry. Where is he by the way?" I wanted to know.
"Well…" he sighed, "Since he´s been forced into the actors-team by Juno, he´s too busy to also care about the art-department I guess…"
He sounded a little sore about that himself for some reason, but I didn´t say anything of course. I knew that the new wolf girl has had quite an impact on the drama-club since she joined it, but I never thought it went this far already.
"So he´s actually on stage again in the next performance?" I asked with great interest. I was a little surprised that Legoshi never told me about that before. He never really talked about the drama-club when he visited me here. He mostly just helped me in the garden.
"He even got the lead role" the mongoose told me in resignation, "He went from being a last minute side-character to freaking Romeo just like that."
"He´s playing Romeo?" I asked in surprise, "Really?"
"He was just as shocked about that as you are…" he affirmed with a shrug of his shoulders, "…but he´s actually doing pretty well considering how much he disliked it at first…" he confessed.
Now that really was something interesting. I would ask Louis about that next time I´d meet him. Normally he had the lead roles, the drama club was his biggest pride ever since. "Maybe that´s why nobody had seen him for such a long time?" I asked myself, "No…it wasn´t just the drama club, nobody at school had seen him ever since Legoshi saved me from the Shishigumi…"
"Now about those flowers?" I suddenly got pulled back into reality.
"Oh…yeah, I´m sorry… right over here, I´ve prepared something already…"
He followed me towards the bucket of water I had filled with a handful of roses for their try-outs.
"I´ve just cut down a few for now, you´ll get more fresh ones for the performances of course…" I explained.
He nodded understandingly. It seemed like he already wanted to leave again, but then he stopped with the bucket under his arm.
"Can I ask you something?" he wanted to know, now in a slightly friendlier tone than before.
"Huh?"
"Is it true that Legoshi doesn´t want to get closer to Juno because of you? He seems like…so distant to her while practising, the whole club noticed it meanwhile…"
"I…I´m not quite sure…" I told him, being a little surprised about that bold question, "…I…I mean I´m not sure if he would want me to tell you about that…"
"Come on…" he said as if I was really annoying, "Those two wolves would make such a perfect couple, they´re even playing Romeo and Juliet together. But he still doesn´t want to get more intimate with her? Their romance looks so goddamn faked on stage!"
There it was again. They still kept talking about that. And they weren´t just talking, they even were complaining.
"So…what are they doing on stage?" I asked with a noticeable touch of resignation.
"I´m not allowed to spoil anything. I´m pretty sure you´ll see that in the premiere. You´re coming, right?"
"Oh I don't know…maybe" I sighed. I didn´t feel like answering his questions truthfully right now. He hadn´t even told me his name yet. Compared to how I knew Legoshi, he was not at all pleasant company right now.
"…anyway…thanks for the flowers!" he said for the farewell, "I´m sure Lover-boy will get some permiere-tickets for you. See ya later!"
"No problem…" I sighed, "Have a nice day."
With that he just left and closed the door behind him. That whole meeting wasn´t exactly a huge push of motivation this afternoon.
POV Jack
Legoshi has been acting quite differently since the beginning of this semester. He still was the most-polite guy I´ve ever met, helping out whenever he could and listening closely when somebody was talking to him casually or about personal issues, but he also had a lot more self-confidence than before. Although sometimes he may still was a bit too polite for a male wolf, his calm and dark nature suited him well ever since I knew him.
He was a lot more "mature" now as well, not too shy about certain topics anymore and in general, he held his long snout at least a little higher than he used to.
He was quite popular now, ever since he saved Haru from the Shishigumi clan, but he still didn´t show any interest in all the canine girls who suddenly looked with very different eyes at him.
Especially Juno seemed to get on his nerves quite frequently. Legoshi always seemed to be very exhausted when he came back into the dorms after his practise sessions in the drama club.
He had told me how Juno had completely turned that club around since Louis was gone, and although Legoshi had been quite happy with his job as a light-technician in the stage-crew, he had to give up that position now since all the other actors wanted him to be in the actors-team as well.
Now he had to learn text-books against his will, had to do dance choreographies with Juno as the other main actress of the new production, and what annoyed him the most: everybody still saw them as the perfect carnivore Couple. I had the feeling that it was eating him up inside slowly but surely. The reason for that was quite simple. He was in love with somebody totally different.
When he came back from his "secret" visits from the gardening club, he always came back into the dorms with a little smile on his face. He wasn´t really talking about what he did there, but since there was still just one member in the gardening club, it was pretty obvious why he went there.
Today he came back from the drama club though, and while the other students in our dorm went out for the little Halloween-Party in the ball-room, I was sitting on my matrass reading the newest Mangas my brother sent me after reading them for himself. I had anticipated that for month, and I wasn´t such a huge fan of parties anyway.
"Legoshi!" I greeted him happily, glad to have somebody to talk to right now, "Sorry…I meant Romeo!"
He just looked at me with a warm but tired little smile.
"You still have your actors clothing on…" I said, "Had a long practice session with Juno again?"
"She´s very ambitious" he stated with a little nod, "And every time we practice she´s getting closer and closer to me…"
I nodded understandingly but couldn´t wipe the grin out of my face just yet.
"Why don't you give it a little try already?" I asked him boldly, "At least you can´t do nothing wrong if she wants it. You know, just getting a bit of experience?"
He looked at me again quietly, then he shook his head very slightly. "She would get even more attached to me if I´d do that. I don't have feelings for her."
"Are you really sure about that?" I asked him teasingly, "Maybe you just dont know it yet…"
He looked around the room for a moment, and when he got sure we were alone, turned his head back towards me once again.
"Are you sure you can keep your mouth shut about this?"
I closed the Manga I had laying on my lap and put it onto my pillow, before I took myself the chair by the table and placed it right next to his bed. Then I nodded with a serious but also comforting little smile.
"In the night after I saved her from the Shishigumi…we missed the last train back…so we got ourselves a cheap hotel room with just one bed in it…and when we sat on the corner of the bed, we suddenly got really close to each other… …and when I had her in my arms she just asked me if I wanted to make love to her…" he began telling, and that alone just got me so excited already. He finally told me more about that night.
POV Legoshi
I could already tell how much he enjoyed listening right now. His hanging Labrador-ears perked up slightly and his tail started moving a little as well. I couldn´t hide a little smirk about it, but then I continued with what I tried to say.
"…I…I couldn´t say I wasn´t into it you know…"
"Ohhh…" he screeched, not able to hide his excitement while his cute voice became even a little higher all over sudden.
"I was…like…totally ecstatic. I had saved her from a clan of Lions who just had tried to eat her, my body was still sore from the battle and the wounds I had…I still was stirred up by adrenaline…"
"Did she notice?" he asked with great interest, "…I mean your…excitement…"
"Oh…I think there was no point of hiding it…" I sighed with a little smile, "I wasn't able to move my body normally. I…I described it as ´male mode´ to her, when she suggested to get a hotel room. I was quite scared to be honest..."
"But she still trusted you, right? I see that as a good sign…"
"Yeah…but…"
"But she wasn´t into it later?"
"Nono, she was…at first" I explained, "But then, when I was laying on top of her…trying to come closer to her face…my senses got completely blurred once again. It just got to me how small she was compared to me…and…and…"
"Well…you´re an almost fully grown male wolf…" he said, "…for her as a dwarf rabbit…you could have quite a…scary…appearance when laying on top of her…"
"I…I…I was trying to be gentle, but it seemed like it still was too much. Suddenly I had her arm in my mouth and I nearly bit into it."
He now said nothing and just looked at me with an expression of mixed feelings.
"…she said she had the sudden urge to get into my mouth for some weird reason. Like…she wanted to be eaten like she was my prey."
That left him thinking for a couple of moments.
"Well…I guess primal instincts could really be a big problem for the both of you…"
"Yeah…" I sighed.
"The mood was ruined after that I guess?"
I just nodded again. "Not only for her."
He gently put one of his paws onto my knee and looked me in the eyes with a motivating smile.
"Don't worry too much about it" he said, "I can´t talk from a lot of experience either. Close to none to be honest. My first and only girlfriend left me before we even got closer to each other. And you really didn´t pick something easy for the first time either…"
POV Jack
He just kept looking at me with a mixture of a sad and understanding expression. They were right about him sometimes, as a handsome strong wolf like him, that hanging-head sad expression seemed a little off on him.
I couldn´t help but smile at him right now. He knew I wasn´t done with my questions yet.
"So tell me…was it easy to fall asleep that night?" I asked while removing my paw from his knee again.
He just sighed about this once again.
"Come on, Legoshi!" I grinned, "I know it wasn't! Tell me about it!"
"Is there anything particular you want to hear?" he asked curiously, as he slowly began undoing the white shirt the actors in the drama club had to wear. I had already noticed the red stains earlier and how he was examining them for himself all this time, but now that got me so distracted I even forgot what he just asked me.
"Err…uhm…what?"
"…you where the one asking me…" he said while running his fingers over the red stains on his shirt carefully, "…I asked back what you wanted to hear right now exactly…"
I just noticed how much more muscular his body had become in the meanwhile. It seemed like he was still getting stronger every day. The gossip-talk from some of the canine girls in the hallway recently seemed to be justified. But it didn´t seem like he had noticed his popularity yet.
"Was it…was it like…getting tight in your pants when she touched you?"
That question made him smile a little, finally. Then he nodded. "It hurt pretty badly and it went on forever."
"How did she react to that?"
"She was quite amused" he stated, "…but she also asked me if I needed help with that…"
"And you declined it?" I asked in puzzlement.
He nodded with a shrug of his shoulders. Now the slightly amused expression on his face faded away pretty quickly once again. It seemed like he didn´t really wanted to talk about this anymore.
"Well, your decision I guess…"
He just nodded again silently. Then he kept looking at me as if he was waiting for further questions from my side.
"Did you know they were talking about you?" I asked him then, "You seem to be quite popular now…"
That really shocked him a little.
"Yeah?" he asked, "I…I mean…who was talking about me?"
"Just regular gossip-talks in the corridors…" I grinned, "…seems like some of the girls are quite interested in you these days..."
"What? Really?" he asked in disbelief, "Why…why would they…?"
He seemed to be genuinely surprised about that, but I kept on nodding nevertheless.
"Just look at yourself" I chuckled, "The big hero who saved a student from being devoured…practicing for a…for the main role in the drama club now…being shirtless in one of the scenes on top of that…"
"Where do you know that from?"
"Oh, some girls in the hallway mentioned it and giggled excitedly…" I explained with a big grin. I had just too much fun seeing him like this.
"Oh…"
I just continued nodding with a big happy grin. He knew his slightly annoyed expression wouldn´t change that. But then he surprised me a little once again.
"You know…there also is a second side to the medal of my ´hero story´…" he told me all over sudden.
"Yeah?" I asked curiously.
"I was…" he sighed, leaving a long pause, "…I was nearly devouring her myself way before all that happened."
Now that on the other hand shocked me really badly. I wasn´t expecting to hear anything like that at all right now.
"What? Are you serious?"
He nodded silently.
"The very girl you saved?"
"Yeah" he affirmed, "But she sort of knew it already when I confessed it to her."
"Now that puts things into a very different light…" I said after a little while, "I had no idea…"
"I know…" he sighed, "I never told anybody. Why would I? But I felt so awfully guilty every time I met her since…I was so glad to finally get that off my chest that night…"
I nodded understandingly but wasn´t really able to say anything to that right now.
POV Legoshi
"You won´t tell anybody, right?" I asked him with a serious expression.
The white Labrador immediately shook his head to that question, followed by a warm little smile.
I knew I could trust him, he was my best friend in this school and probably also the best friend I´ve ever had.
That was followed by yet another moment of uncomfortable silence, so I began folding my shirt carefully. Jack just kept staring at me for some reason.
"I just wish I could help you more somehow…" he then stated suddenly.
"Help me?" I asked in confusion, "How could you help me?"
That question of mine really got him nervous all over sudden.
"Y-you know…getting a few experiences and so on…" he said, noticeably lower in his voice now.
"W-What?"
"I know it sounds weird!" he said hectically, "…but…I had been thinking about this too…just what it would feel like...getting close to somebody…"
I didn´t really know how to react to that right now. I wasn´t entirely sure if he was just joking around or if he actually meant it like that. He didn´t seem to be too sure about that either.
"Sorry…" he said after another long pause, "…that maybe came across very weird…"
"N-no…it´s fine!" I assured, "…don't worry…I…"
It wasn´t easy to say this the right way. I didn´t want him to feel weird right now, but I also didn´t want to get the wrong message across.
"…I was thinking about something like that too before…" I stated, before I noticed that that maybe was a little bold as well.
"You were?"
"...yeah…hasn´t everybody thought about something like that once?"
"I…I guess so…" he said lowly, looking me deeply in the eyes once again, "…but I never thought I would actually tell anybody about this ever…"
"I won´t tell anyone" I assured, "I promise! You know I never would."
"I know" he said lowly but with trust in his voice, "Thanks Legoshi!"
Then, another long and kinda awkward silence took place.
POV Juno
"Just what is it with that dwarf rabbit girl?" I asked in total frustration, "What is so attractive about her?"
It just wouldn´t get off my mind.
"Is this about Legoshi again?" Els, the female goat who also is part of the drama club asked with a little sigh. She had volunteered to help me clean up the stage after practice today, and I was glad about it, because we´ve been using a lot of fake-blood on the stage today. Getting that off the floor was quite a lot of work.
"Just why won´t he give me a chance? Are they even a couple yet? Just what is wrong with him? Am I not attractive?"
"I think you´re very beautiful" Els told me kindly, "And you´re doing a great job as Juliet. You two really look good together…"
"So why won´t he even just consider it? Doesn't he notice how much I put into this?"
I squeezed the sponge over the bucket once more and the water inside became even more red because of the fake blood.
"Well…he did save her from the Shishigumi all by himself…" she reminded me.
"Even then! She´s a little bunny! He´s a very strong male wolf! They´re not supposed to be together!"
I squeezed the sponge in my hand even harder now.
"Give it a bit more time" Els chuckled light-heartedly, "Maybe the pressure of the upcoming premiere will change his mind a little."
That paused the world around me for a moment. Els was right. That could make a difference. And hearing that let another very good idea spawn in my head as well, something I hadn´t even considered yet: I just had to make sure that little dwarf-rabbit girl would get tickets for the premiere performance. If Legoshi wouldn´t even get them for her himself. Then she would see with her own eyes who´s the better love-interest for him. That idea was just what I needed. I had to be patient just a little longer.
POV Jack
I never thought I would talk to him about something like that ever, but now it happened and he wasn´t even that weirded-out by it. I almost believed he didn´t find it weird at all.
I wasn´t quite sure if I should push it any further though. The only thing speaking for it right now was that the two of us were alone tonight, which really was quite rare when sharing the room with three more students.
Legoshi was my best friend ever since childhood. He was the only one who I could always talk to, the only one who I could really open up to. I was pretty sure I wasn´t in love with him in a romantic sense, but I somehow wanted to get even closer to him right now. Not just emotionally.
I was fascinated by his tall, wild, almost majestic appearance ever since, and I just couldn´t help myself but stare at him whenever I could. There was no way he hadn´t noticed that by now. I really withed I could try out a few things with him without any pressure or conditions. If only there was a way I could tell him that. Was there a possibility he was thinking about something like that too?
"I have to kiss her" he suddenly stated, changing the topic quite drastically therefore, "…in the stage-play I mean…the famous kiss-scene won´t be cut out in our version either…"
"What? Really?"
He nodded silently. "Although it´s just acting…it feels very wrong to me."
"I´m surprised you´re even doing it…" I confessed with a little chuckle, ",…you´re really surprising me a little these times…that brings acting to a whole nother level, doesn't it?"
"I really wish Louis was still here to play that role" he confessed, "He´s just born for the stage. I´m not feeling too confident about it."
"Well…but you must be doing quite well still, otherwise they would have replaced you by now, right?"
"I…I´m mean I could try to mess this up on purpose…but…but they might kick me out of the drama-club therefore…"
I was just about to ask him about that, but he pretty much had answered the question himself already. He always liked the drama club. He didn´t want to get kicked out.
He still inspected his white shirt with critical eyes. I was a little puzzled that he didn´t get himself something fresh to wear by now. It was not like him to be half naked, not even here in the dorms.
"Have you been working out?" I asked casually, taking an even closer look at his abdomen.
"I…yeah…I did a few pull-ups and push-ups every now and then…" he confessed, "…ever since the fight with Shishigumi I felt like I could be too weak to protect her from something like that if it happened again…"
I couldn't help but chuckle about this. I was pretty sure he did it not only for that reason.
"You think she´ll get into a situation like that again in the near future?"
"Oh I don't know…" he sighed, "…these are some crazy times we´re living in…and I probably got really lucky last time…"
I nodded understandingly. He looked into the distance for a couple of seconds, then back at me, probably because I still was staring at him.
"Well…to put all that aside for a second, I think it really suits you" I told him lowly.
That compliment made him smile a little more once again.
"Any Idea´s how I could get rid of the red stains?" he asked while showing his white shirt a little closer to me.
"Hm…no" I sighed, "Not really…"
I didn´t care about the red stains on his shirt right now if I was completely honest. I cared about him and his feelings. About his needs and desires.
There still seemed to be this deep sadness within him, and I wanted him to feel better finally. There was almost nothing I wouldn't do to help him. To make him feel at least a little better.
Who was I kidding? I probably wanted to do that for myself as well. He was one of the very few people here I really trusted. Ever since I found that rabbit-porn magazine in his stuff, I felt the need to emotionally connect to him even more. It really was time for us to gain some experiences, so why shouldn´t we gain them together? The idea just wouldn´t get out of my head somehow.
"Jack" he suddenly ripped me back out of my daydreaming, "…are you okay?"
"Huh?"
"You seem a little distracted. Is there something else you want to talk about?"
"N-no…" I stuttered. That didn´t sound very believable, probably. It didn´t sound believable at all apparently.
"Come on" he grinned, "…I´m not mad about what you said earlier. You´re my best friend! You can talk to me about anything! …and I´m not going to tell anyone. You know that. So if you want to talk about it…" he said, quickly looking around the quiet room once again, "…now is the time."
Feel free to tell me what you think, I´d be very happy about some feedback!
Stay safe and healthy! See you soon!
~furr
Ps.: Sorry about all the theatre related stuff. Legend has it that I´m actually working as a light-technician in a real theatre and therefore know every single stage play ever written all by heart. Sad but true. Anyway, I thought it just fit nicely here. Ok, bye now.