Big thanks to RedLiteAlexi for writing a part again and helping me with the correction.
Hope you enjoy.
Beastars – Into the spotlight
Chapter 24 – The painful truth
POV Aoba
"Truffaldino!" Kai yelled in anger, performing on an almost unbelievably high level as well in the meanwhile, "I told you to bring the wine after we´re done with the main course!"
Even the audience seemed to believe him now, and it honestly suited him quite well to be getting off like that. His voice was loud and full of self-confidence, his posture bossy and just right for his character.
I turned around in a quick and hectic fashion, intentionally spilling some of the wine while doing so, went through the same door I came in and out of sight from the audience for a moment.
Legoshi and Bill were on the front side of the revolving stage now, complaining loudly and in a funny manner what took me so long to bring them their desserts.
"Truffaldiinooo!" Legoshi yelled, perfectly nailing his slightly drunk character although he was totally sober while the audience kept on laughing their asses off in great delight, "The crème brulee! And bring it today, will you?"
I quickly took the requested item off the little shelf of requisites and entered their side of the stage through the door.
"Yes sir!" I panted, arriving at their table just in time so the audience could see me tripping over my own feet and dropping the entire tableau of food on the floor in quite a spectacular fashion. Pottery shattered on the floor, the crème brulee just slid off the edge of the revolving platform.
The entire stage was a giant mess in the meanwhile, but it was all going as planned. Miguno and his band now picked up the pace and the loudness once more. We were getting towards the final part of the play in the meanwhile, the tasks were becoming too much for one person to handle and the lies of my character would be revealed to the masters pretty soon.
It was a spectacular moment to be playing this. The new students who joined Cherryton Highschool just a few days ago were totally captivated. And it was the same story with the sophomores, seniors, teachers, the principal and the professional-theatre people. The last shows we did were good, this one was on a whole new level.
They had a whole crew of reporters, directors, cameramen and critics with them, wanting to see what we did with their money and their equipment in the end.
Although we all were really nervous at the beginning, now I was pretty confident they must at least be content with our efforts.
I took a few steps of run-up, accelerated to take-off speeds and spread my wings to sail around the revolving stage again. This time countering the direction of the stage which Kibi had set onto its maximum speed now.
"Truffaldinooo!" Kai yelled after me loudly.
"Truffaldino!" Legoshi yelled after me a moment later, the stage turning with his side towards the audience again.
"TRUFFALDINO!" They both yelled in unison, just before I changed my course and charged for the viewer-ranks at full speed, flying above their heads by just a couple of feet and sailing through the entire audience room.
Having reached the highest point in the room where Kibi and Dom were sitting at the front of house, I gave them both quick high five mid-air and then accelerated back down towards the stage, doing a little spin around my own axis before landing on the wooden floor again. I was pretty sure I´ve never had that much fun acting out a role before. I had the audience captivated the entire time. I really owned the stage.
With Miguno and his band providing the music and the others on 110% as well, there was nothing to stop us.
POV Juno
Everything about this performance was just incredible. The acting, the energy, the music, it was just joyful. Even though I wasn't in it, I really enjoyed watching it. There was just so much going on and they all proved their talents and passion yet once again.
Aoba quickly went out of sight after landing behind the stage build again and the revolving platform stopped on Kai´s side now.
The mongoose had noticeably stepped up his game as well for this performance. He seemed full of energy and full of commitment. He still didn't have the same presence as Legoshi or Aoba on stage, but we enjoyed seeing him play nevertheless, and nobody would complain about him having a big role either, he really lived up to it this time, having surpassed Bill by a long way in the meanwhile.
While Aoba was gone from the stage, his heated discussion with his guests reached a whole new level now, as the characters played by Tao and Els began to lose their patience as well in the meanwhile.
"I can´t tell you why he´s so incompetent all over sudden!" Kai yelled in anger, "He's never let me down like that before!"
"This really is unacceptable! We´re utterly shocked our daughter is supposed to be married here in this restaurant-"
"Excuse me!" Legoshi now loudly interrupted the black panther, joining Kai´s side of the stage for the first time in the performance, "We´re trying to have a conversation over here! Could you keep your voices down, please!?"
"Oh this is a freaking nightmare!" Kai complained loudly, "First that clown of a servant messes everything up and now this! Would you please go back to where you came from and leave us alone? We have a very important-"
"Wait! -You´re having trouble with your servant as well!?" Legoshi interrupted, acting really surprised and still very believable clueless, "…we´re having a really important dinner as well and everything is just going to shit right now!"
"It's hard to get good servants these days" Kai agreed, noticeably friendlier and calmer now that he recognized that his neighbor appeared to have the same problem as him, "I really thought I finally had found someone adequate and now this…"
In the conversation that followed, everything that had happened in the play before got revealed to the two masters and together they found out about the game Truffaldino had been playing with them. The servant of two masters, who worked for both of them simultaneously so he could ensure himself more money that way. At least that´s what I thought it was about.
Truffaldino had also made a few mistakes earlier, held back important letters he was supposed to bring to the post office, he even faked some information to get himself into a better position with each of the masters. He didn't bring some important messages across he was supposed to do, to save his own ass, because they would have found out otherwise, and ultimately stole food from some of the plates he was supposed to serve so he could treat himself to the delicious meals.
The audience had known about all this the whole time, Aoba played it out really well and understandable, so now the reveal to each of the other masters really was a joy to watch for us.
Soon almost the entire ensemble was gathered in a Kai´s garden, the stage had completely stopped moving in the meanwhile and a lot of different conflicts from earlier got resolved.
I wasn't even sure if I understood the entire thing correctly, I haven't read the script this time, but it was a great vibe nevertheless. I was so proud of all of them.
The tickets had been sold out so quickly they had to schedule even a third performance for the school audience, and depending on how much the theatre people liked it, they would have to perform this a couple more times in the real city-theatre as well. I guessed that they would have to do this quite often, as the audience loved it really much already.
I had Haru and Anita beside me in the second row and the boys from 701 were scattered all around us. It was a little bit weird to not be on that stage myself though, just being a spectator felt very different all over sudden.
When the they got to the end of the performance, celebrating the finale and ultimately the happy end with some really exciting and upbeat music from Miguno and his band, having to be careful not to trip over any of the spilled food and shattered pottery on the floor, the audience actually gave them standing-ovations even before they started with the curtain call.
I could feel their happiness with them when they all went to the front and did a first little bow in front of us.
They all had proud and happy smiles on their faces, but Legoshi still looked the most-humble about it, predictably. I could tell he was happier for Kai and Aoba than he was for himself and his own performance, but that was not a surprise for me either.
There was a very good reason why the performance today wasn't the biggest of deals for him.
POV Legoshi
The audience went crazy loud for our curtain call this time. They still kept standing up when we all came out on our own one after another, and this time not even Kai could complain about the noise he got.
He had delivered a very solid performance; nobody could tell him he wasn't worthy of a role like that anymore.
But Aoba was sailing above an even higher cloud once again. His applause was noticeably louder than any of ours, but he also has had the most exhausting and difficult role to master here. He wanted this performance to be the best it could be, now that those really serious theatre-people were watching, and it all went down just like we had rehearsed it countless of times. He worked night and day for this, practiced stumbling and dropping things in his dorm-room to make it more believable on stage, and it seemed like it was worth it. This probably was his ticket into becoming a professional actor.
I just smiled at them humbly when it was my turn to run out there all on my own, waving a little as I tried to ignore the uncomfortable feeling as good as possible. My costume was a little too tight, it was itching here and there and in places I couldn't reach very well and I really wanted to get out of it in the meanwhile.
Although this was the first performance I played without getting my shirt off in the process, this was the most uncomfortable and nervous I've been feeling during any moment being on stage so far.
I knew what was about to come now, and although I actually wanted it to happen, I still was rather nervous about it.
At the very end of the curtain call, when Kai went out there one last time and everybody else but me had left the stage already. The mongoose raised one of his hands, signaling the crowd to become quieter because he wanted to tell them about something.
It turned out he had been thinking long and hard about this, because he presented them with quite an opening for his emotional speech: "Before you all leave, I quickly want to say a few words to two people I really look up to. One of them you´ve seen here on stage today and the other one couldn't perform this time because of a very special reason…"
He let that sink in for a moment, ignoring the low murmuring from the crowd though.
"First time they´ve been seen on stage together, they played the roles of Romeo & Juliet. Then they were Volpone and Colomba. Their acting and their passion boosted our drama club to a whole new level. Onto a level that it made him a Beastar and us perform our pieces in the city´s theatre house…"
He made another little pause.
"I'm guessing you all know who I'm talking about in the meanwhile. Still, I´m gonna say his name and I want to say thank you! Legoshi, you are my hero! You´re not just my hero, you're everybody's hero. No matter how humble you stay about it, I need you to know that without you, we wouldn't be where we are today! You helped me when I was at my lowest point, you helped everybody who ever needed you! And although you´ve been in some clan business you won´t tell us about, although you've literally been pulled off the stage midway through a premiere performance once, you´ve glued this club together and never let us give up on it!"
He already got a gentle but very encouraging applause for those words, and I would lie if I said I wasn't at least a little bit touched by this as well.
Then I noticed how Aoba swiped a tear from his face besides me.
"To me, you´ve been like a mentor in these last few months. You´ve been an inspiration, you´ve been a shoulder to cry on, you´ve been a brother and you´ve been the fuel that kept us going."
He took a short look to his left and right, then he continued, obviously having a slightly harder time talking now.
"…and although I know it's going to be tough…and although I know some people might be judging you for this, I wholeheartedly believe you´re going to be a great father as well!"
Now it was official. The whole school had an official confirmation about it, although a lot of people must have guessed it already. Juno´s pregnancy was not to be hidden anymore at this point.
That statement was left with a big shocked silence first of all, but Kai wasn't getting distracted by that either, because he wasn't finished with his speech yet.
"No matter what anyone thinks about the two of you, no matter what anyone thinks of me. I´ll always be there for you and support you in any way possible. You've faced so many challenges in these last few months, I'm confident you'll master this one as well!"
Before I could even think of stopping him, Aoba got onto his way to the front of the stage as well. He nodded in agreement when Kai and the audience noticed him.
"I'm here for you guys too!" he announced, "Times haven't been easy and they don't look like they become any less easy, but I want you to know that you two are my heroes as well and I will always stand behind you!"
Now Bill stepped out into the light as well, joining the mongoose and the bald eagle at the edge of the stage.
"We've had our differences…" the tiger said with a little chuckle, "…but now I know better, and all I can say is that I agree with them. No matter if others may give you grief or talk behind your backs, I don't care what they think and I´ll support you!"
Now Els, Ellen and Tao went on their way as well, and soon after the rest of the drama club was standing in the middle of the stage holding hands and showing their support for us.
The slightly confused silence in the audience now turned into a warm little applause again.
I walked around them with a little smile and jumped down the edge of the stage quickly. Having spotted Juno in the second row earlier already, I now walked all the way down between the seats and right towards her. The students pulled in their feet, clearing the way for me when they noticed who I was heading for.
It became really loud around us when I lifted her up and carried her through the row and then towards the stage carefully. I put her back down onto her feet when we arrived at the edge of the stage, then I climbed back up there myself.
Aoba and Kai both reached me a hand to help me up, the audience became even louder when Juno and I turned ourselves around towards them.
At first, I hadn´t been quite confident if I really wanted the mongoose to tell everyone about it just like that, but now that it happened, and seemed to be well accepted by the majority of students, I was kinda glad it went down like that. It was a powerful statement, and they respected it. That was the most important part for me.
Because he was the one who said it first, I went towards Kai and hugged him for it shortly. Juno did the same, smiled at the audience quickly and then she hugged me tightly.
Moments later we were surrounded by the entire drama club, all joining in on the hug.
After all the time and trouble we´ve faced, that feeling of being one big family finally returned to the club. It might have looked a little sentimental to the audience, but after that great success of our premiere and the news we told them about, it felt like a justified thing to pull off in front of so many people.
Now the whole school knew Juno and I would be parents soon, and no matter what any of them really thought, we knew we at least had a few people behind us.
I was glad this happened, but I didn't want to make too big a thing out of it after all. I wanted the school to talk about our premiere for a little while, not discuss our pregnancy all day long.
I quickly waved them once more, then I took Juno´s hand and walked off the stage towards the backstage area with her slowly. The other guys from the drama club followed us, and when we finally were out of sight, Kibi dimmed down the lights and the applause finally stopped for today.
POV Juno (two days earlier)
The shed in Haru´s garden had become a little too small for me in the meanwhile. After an entire month of sleeping there every night, I felt like I was crowding Haru a little as well. While she said she really didn't mind me staying around, I wanted to give her a day off from time to time.
But then our lord and savior came to the rescue and saved our day just once again. Legoshi offered to let me live in his flat with him again.
He wanted me to have a safe haven where I could stay away from the stress school and everything around it gave me.
I had all the space I could ever need here, I didn't have to live with my greedy and sometimes quite annoying dorm-mates and there were so many other perks to this as well compared to Haru´s shed. Central heating, a big fridge in a real kitchen, a bathtub, TV. Staying sane during school hours all day long was quite a challenge already, and with the work in the garden we had to do, I really was glad I didn't have to listen to my dorm-mates bitching and fighting about literal nonsense almost every evening.
We had this paradise all to ourselves, so I could nicely focus on learning and relaxing. Sometimes Haru joined me here after our gardening chores, sometimes she even stayed the night.
Legoshi, apart from being very busy with the drama club once again, tried to support us in any way he could. Sometimes he went shopping for groceries after school and I cooked us dinner, sometimes he got us a pizza from the place down the street. On weekends we did movie nights with Jack and Anita from time to time and they all kept looking out for me really kindly. We almost acted like a little family already.
Then our big day suddenly got announced. Two days before the "Master of two servants"-premiere, my doctor gave me an appointment to have an ultrasound scan of my belly and determine the exact species of my baby. I would finally find out who would be the father of the pup.
The suspense grew greater and greater while we waited for it to happen. Time seemed to be moving slower too, since we all craved for nothing but clarity on this in the meanwhile.
Legoshi told Kai about it in the rehearsals a day before it was due so it wouldn't be too much of a surprise for him before the big premiere. I was so nervous about this I pretty much went into a full tunnel vision in the hours before the appointment.
Then, when zero hour finally approached and the doctor called us into her office, it all went down so much faster than I had anticipated. I didn't even get to tell her why this was so important to me.
Although I was pretty sure she must have had it noted down in my medical files somewhere, she seemed pretty surprised by my sudden shock of happiness when she told me the good news.
She smeared some sort of lubricant onto my belly and then gently pushed a handheld scanning device against it. Soon later the monitor next to me showed us a black and white image of my baby.
The doctor took a long and close look at what the picture showed, then she nodded contentedly.
"He's gonna be a strong and healthy wolf" she said with great confidence, "Everything looks excellent!"
"Just a wolf?" I immediately asked.
"Yes…" she affirmed in slight confusion, because Legoshi was beside me and she apparently had been convinced in advance that he was the father, "…he's looking like a regular wolf to me."
She now finally took a look in the medical files again and then realized why I asked that.
"…the tail would be a lot longer if it was a mongoose hybrid. Also the face and the ears would be shaped a little differently" she explained with a little smile.
I just couldn´t hide my excitement anymore at this point. This was everything I ever wanted to hear. How happy Legoshi was about this was hard to tell, but he certainly smiled a little bit as well. I guessed he was happy as long as I was happy.
"…and you're sure it's a boy?"
"Yes, it´s a boy" she affirmed once again, pointing at a different part of the scan now, "You can take that into consideration when you think of a name now."
"Leon" I said, actually being set on that name since quite a while already.
Although I knew Legoshi would have a say in this as well, it hadn't been too hard to convince him of the name beforehand.
"That´s a pretty name," the doctor told me with an approving little smile.
For this one moment, not thinking that this still was a teenage pregnancy, I was pretty happy with my situation. All the stress and trouble this caused was forgotten for a minute, I was just excited.
Everything felt like it was going to be alright in the end, at least for that very moment. Finally, some good news after such a long time of worrying.
POV Kai
When my life was at an all-time low about a month ago, when Juno told me she was pregnant and Legoshi saved me from completely losing my sanity, I now was flying.
I was finally accepted as a lead actor, people seemed to genuinely enjoy my parts performance as well and I would not be the father of Juno´s child.
Ever since I had gotten to know about it two days ago, I´ve put all my energy and efforts into the drama club, having found a whole lot of new spirit and willpower. I wanted to make this performance as enjoyable to watch as I could and be on par with the other leads. It seemed like I had achieved that. The audience loved it, the principal loved it and even the professional theatre-people seemed to be impressed.
After the last big applause, when the entire club was on the stage again wishing Legoshi and Juno all the best for their future parenthood, the welcoming that awaited us backstage was just incredible.
It seemed like our budget hadn´t been completely drained yet, even after that ridiculous stage build and that massive line-up of props we wasted in every performance, because it really looked like professional high-quality catering this time.
Tables with cider stood everywhere, there was a giant buffet, there were decorations and there was a team of real press-photographs next to the dorks from the school wave.
I even had heard of someone filming the entire premiere today. I was aware the people from the theatre that supported us were here and still scouting for new talents, but I hadn't expected anything this serious.
We didn't even have the time to properly celebrate our successful premiere like we usually did. All of them, Aoba especially, tried to stay as serious and professional as possible right now, almost like this was not something to light-heartedly celebrate about.
Predictably though, there was one actor who wasn't all that excited by the whole thing. Legoshi tried really hard to fake some smiles while shaking hands with some of the important people, but I could tell there were other things going on inside his head.
The whole school knew he was the father now. I wasn't even sure how many people knew I had been in contention for it as well, but I also hadn´t spent a single thought about his situation with all this, not one single thought ever since I knew about it.
A huge boulder had finally rolled off my shoulders two days ago, and I put all my extra energy that gave me into the drama club. I wanted to fly even higher now that I knew I wasn't gonna be the dad, but I hadn't at all considered what Legoshi must be going through right now.
And now I just went out there and blurted it out just like that. I felt like a hero when I did it and when the entire drama-club supported us, but now I slowly but surely began to realize that I had been doing this for myself and my own ego as well.
Legoshi just patted me on the shoulders twice when our paths crossed just by chance, but he didn't say anything about it. I couldn't even tell if that gesture was a "thank you" for the speech or a "congratulations" for having performed a really good show.
I felt kinda silly right now, still walking around in this costume while everybody around was in an ecstatic mood, sipping cider and celebrating each other with big happy smiles.
We all quickly split into different groups, most of them ignoring the buffet for now as there was so much to talk about. Legoshi, Juno and some girls from the dance team stood at one table doing idle chit chat, Sanu was excitedly talking with the Principal and some theatre people. Aoba was giving a really detailed interview to some of the press people as it seemed like, Miguno and his band had started giving autographs already.
I just roamed around a little bit, taking a sip of cider here and there, trying not to drown in all the excitement that was going on around me.
Then suddenly, something rather interesting caught my attention. Bill and some others from the drama-club had gathered around somebody, and when I went there to check out who it was it suddenly made sense what the big fuss was about.
"Kai!" the former drama club lead actor greeted me, rather well spirited than greedy for a change, "Congratulations to you too! I never believed you could play like that!"
"Thanks…I guess."
"Who knew what this club would turn into one day, right?" Bill asked excitedly, "This performance was freaking awesome!"
"It was really impressive" even Louis agreed with him, "I guess they helped you build that stage for a good reason…"
"That reason is nobody else but that wolf over there" Bill said with a little chuckle, "…becoming a daddy in a few months, still trying his hardest for us to succeed as well."
"…and having saved me from getting killed by a clan of lions" Louis added with a light-hearted chuckle, making us all speechless therefore, "Don't forget about that."
"He fucking saved Louis from getting killed and didn't mention it?!"
"…what!?" Tao asked, being in pure disbelief, "Are you serious?"
"He´s the reason I´m still alive" he affirmed, not even flinching once while telling us that, "You guys are really lucky to have somebody like him watching over you."
We all just nodded to that silently. I knew what he meant just too well.
I wasn't quite sure why he really brought up something this deep and emotional at a time like this, now that all our spirits were so high, but none of us could deny he had a point with that either.
"And now he´s going to be a father…" he added, shaking his head with a little chuckle, "…fuck my life what a badass!"
We all now started chuckling a little bit again, not having expected that choice of words from the normally rather highly educated or even poetic talking deer. I certainly enjoyed him being so down to earth for once, being light-hearted and down to earth instead of having half a broomstick up his ass.
"Look at him!" Bill commented with a little smile, "Putting on a show like that, not even aware that a TV-actor scout had been watching the show because of him…"
"What?!" we all asked in unison.
This conversation was just getting more and more confusing.
"The jaguar guy in the black suit over there", the tiger pointed out with a shrug of his shoulders, "I´ve seen him before when I was auditioning for a TV-series last year."
"What, really?" I asked him, having trouble even imagining him being in any TV-series.
"Yeah…" he affirmed with a little nod, "…those guys were really serious. I didn't even make it into the second round of the auditions."
That made total sense to me, but I tried not to show it when I nodded understandingly.
"I´ve seen him talking to Aoba just a few minutes ago" Tao mentioned, "You think he might have chances as well?"
Bill just shrugged his shoulders with a little tilt of his head. It seemed like he didn´t know more than us on that front either.
It appeared he was right though, the jaguar in the black suit really looked like he was waiting so he could talk to Legoshi. It seemed like he was respectful enough to not interrupt his conversation just like that.
He waited until the wolf was done with the conversation he was in, and then he approached him in a well-timed moment when he turned in to his direction just by chance.
POV Legoshi
"Legoshi" the jaguar in the black suit approached me with a respect- but purposeful tone in his voice, "A minute of your time please?"
I nodded with a polite little smile, shaking his paw although I really wasn't keen on hearing any more compliments or congratulations.
"…I´m from Petflix, and I must say I was very impressed by your performance today. So impressed in fact, I want to offer you a role in a new TV-series that is starting to shoot in a few weeks. I´ve been talking to Aoba already and he said he was in."
I already regretted showing any interest in this.
"Thanks, that's really kind of you" I told him politely, hoping he wouldn't be too disappointed right now, "…but I have to decline."
"A-are you sure?" he asked, seemingly a little surprised, "…It's really well paid and your principal already agreed he would give you a few days off for the shooting. You and Aoba would both get really important roles and…"
"Aoba will be great" I told him with a little smile, "…and I'm sure you´ll find someone else to fill in for me. Excuse me, please."
With that and another little smile I went onto my way towards my drama-club friends again. Anything else but this conversation.
I had spotted Louis among them earlier, and I was curious about him being here for multiple reasons.
"Hey guys" I greeted them quietly.
"What did he say?" Bill asked excitedly, apparently referring to the jaguar guy from that TV-network.
"Oh I don't know" I waved it off, "Something about a TV show. He wanted to give me a role or something."
They all stared at me with big eyes.
"He asked Aoba as well, it seems like he's accepted it" I said with a shrug of my shoulders.
"And you fucking didn´t?" the tiger almost yelled at me now in pure disbelief.
I shook my head with a little smile and pointed at the still rather confused looking jaguar guy for him, "He said he needs one more for the show, why don't you ask him while he's still there?"
"Are you freaking kidding me?" he asked again, "I already tried applying for that company! They won't even look at me with their fancy asses! They´re doing serious movies and TV-productions! That's some serious career-chance, Legoshi!"
I just shrugged my shoulders once again, turning my attention towards Louis now.
The deer had attended this event as well dressed as ever. Quite fitting for watching a theatre premiere he wore a fancy black suit with a dark red shirt below it. It wasn't too fancy though, for his standards I thought it even looked a little casual.
"Louis!" I greeted him with a little smile, happy to see him again after what turned out to be quite a little while again in the meanwhile.
"A class of its own" he told me with an amused chuckle. "That actor-scout is gonna be quite annoyed you didn't accept-"
"How are you doing?" I asked him, deliberately ignoring that other nonsense, "Hope they're not treating you too badly?"
"I´m doing quite well, thanks for asking!" he chuckled, waving it off, "How are you? It's a better question!"
He had a valid point asking that question, actually. I didn't want to show it, but I actually appreciated somebody asking about how I was really feeling about all this.
They all just saw me as this hero once again. The invincible, ever gentle and friendly Beastar, the inspiration of the drama-club, the guy who wasn't even afraid of becoming a father in highschool.
I was afraid. Everything in my head was on fire, and that for multiple reasons.
When the entire audience cheered for Juno and I and the challenge we had ahead of us, it just felt so wrong to me again.
When Juno moved into my flat again after I offered it to her, I finally had to fight over my heart to change the bed sheets so they would not smell like Skye anymore. It felt like it was the right thing to do at this point, but the rise in overall happiness I hoped to get out of this still did not show. It was just getting more and more stressful.
I was going to be a father. This was a development that would change my life forever, no matter if I spend the rest of my life with the mother in the end. I never got to know my real father, and I swore to myself if I would ever have kids myself, I would do better than him.
Not that it was very hard to do better than him, but just keeping everything in order was a challenge on its own.
I was glad I had the drama-club as a bit of a distraction, but things were getting more and more serious with every day that passed. I knew I had to lay those distractions aside sooner or later and fully commit to being a parent. I couldn't just think about myself, becoming a well-known actor and an even bigger celebrity than I already was. The sooner I stop with that nonsense, the better. This was the path I had to walk, and I was convinced about it.
"I'll be fine" I waved it off with a little sigh, "Don't worry about me."
This didn't seem to be as believable as I had hoped it would be.
"…you always say that as if you´re completely sure of that," the deer said with a little sigh, shaking his head a little bit, "I can't say I believe you when you ignore serious career chances like that."
"Seriously" Bill agreed with him, "Just give it a shot, what's the worst that could happen?"
Just when he said that, Aoba joined our little circle as well, still flying high above cloud nine as it looked like.
"What are we talking about?" he asked, "What could happen?"
"They were talking about that Petflix guy" I sighed, knowing full well how hard this would shove him off that cloud right now.
"That's so amazing!" he said excitedly, "You accepted, right Legoshi? A lead role in a real TV-series!"
They all now looked at me with big eyes, apparently feeling his undeniable disappointment as well already.
"You're gonna be great" I told him with a little smile, patting his shoulders shortly, "I know you will."
"Y-you…" he stuttered, "…you didn't-"
"Forgive me, Aoba" I told him with a little sigh, "I've got other things to deal with right now."
"B-but…"
"You´ll have to do this next show on your own" I told him with an encouraging little smile, "You did amazing today, that TV-guy asked you about it for a reason."
"L-Legoshi, I don't want to…I can't do that without you!"
"I´m sorry, Aoba!" I told him again, really wanting to escape this situation at this point, "I have a lot of other things on my mind right now."
I looked into Juno´s direction while I said that, and as luck would have it, she appeared to be searching for my attention as well. It looked like all these celebrations were getting to her head a little too. She seemed a little stressed out at this point, and that did not wonder me very much as this was a rather common thing for her in the meanwhile.
"Excuse me for a second, guys" I told them bluntly, already heading off into Juno´s direction, "Talk to you later!"
With that I just left them alone behind me and headed towards her. I didn't want to be disrespectful towards them, but I just had to leave them at this point. I was just getting too much attention right now.
POV Aoba
We just speechlessly watched after him when he went towards Juno and left us alone, not having answered a single one of the million questions I wanted to ask him.
Just when the two wolves were out of our sight, another, in the meanwhile quite familiar, voice caught our attention.
"Seems like he's not able to comprehend it just yet" the principal chuckled excitedly, "First he gets to know he's going to be a dad and now he's going to be a star in a TV-series as well!"
Nobody around us said a single word to that, they all just smiled kinda awkwardly. It seemed like nobody wanted to be the bearer of bad news here.
"He…" I sighed, looking him right in the eyes now, "…he didn't accept the offer."
His reaction was not much of a shock for me really.
"What do you mean he didn't accept?!" the principal asked loudly, almost sounding a little infuriated.
I could understand his frustration just too well, but I also could never be that angry about any of Legoshi´s decisions.
"H-he said he had other things to focus on right now…" I told him in Legoshi´s words.
Sanu slowly started nodding to that and so did the rest of the drama club.
The principal just sighed in great disappointment, but then tried to force a little smile for us nevertheless.
"Your performance was out of this world today!" he told us, "The best one I've ever seen anywhere, the best one you´ve done so far!"
"Thank you, Sir" Sanu told him, "We've all been hard at work for this again."
"I can tell, '' he said, "…and your efforts were worth it! I've just been talking to the theatre director…"
"What did she say?" Ellen asked the question everyone had on their minds.
"She wants you to perform in the city on the big stage" he announced the obvious, "She wants it all. The stage, the music, the actors and…"
He now stepped midway through his sentence, as it apparently was a bit uncomfortable for him saying this in front of us. I knew what it was though, and I was not afraid of saying it:
"Legoshi."
"Yes!" he said while inhaling sharply, still looking a little nervous though, "…the Beastar."
We all just looked at him in an uncomfortable silence, not knowing what else to tell him. We all were worried about Legoshi, but we didn't have any rights whatsoever to tell him what to do with his life. I'm sure he would do the other performances with us if we asked nicely, but everything else was just hopes and dreams right now.
"We should give him a little bit of time," Sanu suggested, noticeably feeling rather uncomfortable about it as well, "…he just learned he´s going to be a father after all."
"And still, he performed a show like that" Gon said while shaking his head, "I just don't understand this wolf."
"Maybe he'll think about it differently tomorrow" Bill suggested, "There probably is a lot on his mind right now."
"He's done a lot for the club" Ellen agreed, "I think we should leave it up to him what he wants to do."
The principal now nodded slowly.
"It is his decision after all," he agreed with a little smile, "…I just want to encourage you all to talk to him about it again, okay? You all seem to be very close friends, I hope you´re there for him!"
"You can count on us, sir" Kai assured while the Siberian tiger already turned to leave, "We'll do our best!"
He nodded with another little smile, then he walked off into the direction he came from.
We just remained staring at each other in slight discomfort. Not even Sanu knew what to say.
"…I suddenly feel a little hot in this costume" I mentioned, trying to lighten up the mood at least a little bit.
"Yeah, now that you´re saying it," Kai agreed with a forced little chuckle, "I think I´m gonna get changed really quick as well…"
"Really?" Els asked us with a little giggle, "I think the 18th century suits you guys…"
"Yeah, yeah…" I chuckled tiredly, as I had been complaining about the costumes earlier already.
I felt a little bit silly still wearing it after the show was over, so I actually was quite glad to have a reason to get out of it at this point.
"See you guys in a minute" I told them, getting on my way towards the changing room slowly but surely. Kai followed me after a moment of hesitation, and right now, for some weird reason, I wasn´t even that annoyed about it.
POV Juno (by RedLiteAlexi)
I followed after the large grey wolf. Part of me felt a little awkward going behind the curtain despite no longer being a member of the drama club. The last few minutes felt so bizarre. My stomach felt queasy but that might not have been entirely related to the announcement. I floated over the floor and looked at Legoshi as he walked determinedly.
I stepped after him. I just wanted to know how he was feeling. When it came to emotions, he could be a stone wall with no apparent point of entry. With the revelation of my pregnancy now out in the open, I felt a new streak of easiness. While I did feel exposed, I no longer had to stress about the secret.
Similar to telling my parents, it wasn't exactly painless but I felt oddly better after the truth was out. Like a necessary amputation, it was ugly and difficult to experience. But there was the obvious truth that it had to be done and once it was over, real healing could begin.
I was sure that things would change for me at school. Although, I'm sure a fair few animals had already figured out I was pregnant, while I took measures to protect my privacy, it was getting progressively harder to conceal my belly and I'm sure a few rumours were already spreading.
I didn't care though, not at this point. I just wanted to talk to him. Legoshi led me through the backstage until we found a little secluded spot with a small folding chair. Legoshi held my hand and caressed my back as he slowly lowered me onto it. I smiled lightly as he gently held me.
I finally looked at his face but I couldn't discern what he was feeling.
"Legoshi?" I asked. He held my hand but looked like he was trying to find the words.
"I'm… sorry Juno? I didn't know everyone was going to say that stuff about us. I'm sorry that Kai told everyone your pregnancy."
I rubbed his hand. "It's okay, I think I would have been horrified in the past but now I don't care. I'm okay. And I'm ready to live my truth." I said. I couldn't help but let my tail wag as I spoke with a newfound resolve. "But what about you? I need to know how you feel."
He exhaled. "I'm happy that Kai doesn't have to worry about this. He can go on living a normal life with what he wants to do."
"That's not an answer! How do you feel, you Legoshi!" I shouted. His ears dropped.
"I'm okay, I'm just trying to figure out where to go from here." He said.
"I think you're doing well so far. I'm going to the doctor and you have me moved into the flat. I'm pretty sure money isn't an issue and my parents do wanna help with everything, even if my mom wants to strangle you." I said with a little giggle. Legoshi's face didn't smile.
"I guess I'm talking more about social expectations…" He said.
I said nothing. Surely he wasn't discussing…that.
The wolf held my hand and spoke softly. "Juno…let's get married." He said.
My eyes sparkled and my ears twitched. "What?" I said in pure shock. The tall wolf knelt down and held my hands.
"I mean, if we're going to be parents in the public eye maybe we should… you know make it official." He rubbed the back of his head.
I said nothing for a while. Was this really happening. I thought back to the dumb girl I was a year ago. Completely smitten by this tall awkward wolf. I didn't know anything then and for the most part I was still just as foolish. That part of me wanted to scream in joy.
"Yes! Yes! I will marry you!" That part of me shouted. Though those words never exited my mouth.
He knelt down and held my hand, flashing a little awkward smile. I blushed but still said nothing.
"Juno? Would that make you happy?" He asked.
"Would it make you happy?!" I more or less snapped back. He seemed super taken aback by my outburst.
"What?" He stuttered.
I grumbled, I didn't mean to sound so angry. I sighed and looked at him. "Legoshi, I'm really happy that we're cool again. I'm happy that you're in my life and I'm thankful that for all the animals that I could be in this situation with, it's you. I really love you and I'll always love you." I exhaled slowly.
"But I can't forget about our last relationship and how it ended." I said. I saw him lower his head.
"Our relationship is very unconventional. And I know that you care about me and about this pup. I know you'll always be there for us and for Haru and all your friends. I'm not worried about that at all." I gave him a little squeeze. "But I also know that you don't love me the way you loved that fox. There's something that you are looking for that I can't give you."
He leaned in and hugged me. I felt a little leak of tears form in my eyes. "I'm not going to trap you in a marriage that I know you aren't entirely interested in. Especially one that caters to the desires and expectations of anyone but us."
He said nothing but I could see that he was tearing up as well. "And for myself, I'm not going to marry anyone that isn't fully devoted to wanting to be with me. Regardless of the situation, pregnant or not. I want the animal that marries me to want me more than anyone. I do love you, but my own life has changed quite significantly. I can't deny that I have feelings for Haru as well. At this point, if I just married you. I'd be denying myself the potential fulfilment of pursuing that relationship."
Legoshi backed up a little. "Do you really have feelings for Haru?" He asked.
I blushed. "Maybe a little, are you a jealous doggy?" I asked with a giggle and still fighting back tears.
He leaned in and wiped them away. "Hehe, maybe a little bit. You sure you're okay with me there. I don't wanna intrude."
"Yes we want you there, you make us feel safe and I imagine you keep things at least a little straight." I laughed. "And if things get more serious between me and Haru, I'm sure she'll still let you watch." I said with a devious little smirk.
His eyes rolled. "At least my son will have two strong women in his life." He joked.
I held him and kissed his cheek. "Our lives are so strange."
"Nothing wrong with that." He said.
"Our pup will likely have a life that's just as strange." I said. I ran my fingers through his fur.
"Well having three parent figures is definitely better than one."
I started to cry again. "How can you be so calm and collected?"
"One of us has to be." He replied. I felt his hand slowly rub the soft skin of my pregnant belly. I giggled and cooed as he touched me.
"I think you're going to be a great father." I said with a big gleaming smile. You're the sweetest wolf I've ever met. Not perfect but you really do care enough to admit your mistakes." I said as I reached up and wrapped my hands around his neck.
Our ears perked up as we heard the various voices of the other members of the drama club nearby. Legoshi looked down at me and nuzzled his cheek against mine.
"You might wanna let go or we'll never hear the end of it." He said in his deep soothing voice. I blushed and loosened my grip. I let out a yawn and rubbed my eyes.
"I think I'm getting tired, probably going to head to the flat and go to bed."
Legoshi's face looked oddly disappointed. "Oh… I mean everyone in the drama club is going to be fine with you being there. Even if you're not performing, you're still one of us, I'm pretty sure everyone is cool with Bill attending the after party."
I shook my head "No it's okay. If I show up at the party, everyone is just gonna wanna talk about us and the pup. You guys gave an awesome performance, the party should be about you guys." I said.
Legoshi brought his finger to his chin, as though he was trying to figure out a way to make me stay for the party. While he thought, I felt my feet start to become sore as well as my stomach starting to ache. I really should get to bed soon.
"Well there's gonna be drinks and stuff." He said awkwardly. I started to giggle.
"You dummy, you know I can't drink right now."
"Hmmm, there's gonna be tons of treats. I'm sure you´ve seen the buffet they made for us." He said with a devilish grin. He knew how to push my buttons.
"Ugh! Legoshi, I'm super tired. You can't stress me out and make these difficult decisions."
He must have seen the error of his ways. "Oh Juno, I'm sorry to tease you. You can go home if you want. It's okay." He said.
I leaned in and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "You're cute but dumb." I giggled. Legoshi helped me to my feet and I felt the pup shift.
"Ooh.." I said nervously.
"You alright?" He asked.
"Yes, just a little jolt in my stomach. I'm fine, I promise." I smiled and rubbed my tummy and returned to the seat.
"Maybe I should come home with you." He said, seemingly not convinced I was okay.
"What!? No, this party is for you guys. You can't leave them high and dry. Stay and have some fun, these are your friends."
I blushed. "Plus, Haru is gonna join me at the flat later tonight." I yawned. "So I won't be alone for very long." I said tiredly. My tail wagged slowly.
He smirked lightly. "I can sleep on the couch if you guys want."
I laughed. "No, I think you should still join us. That little bunny can only keep me so warm." I said with another giggle.
I saw Kai and Aoba walk around the corner. They looked at us shocked.
"Oh Legoshi, there you are." The eagle walked over, forcing a little smile, "Ready to party? Oh hey Juno, I didn't notice you. Congrats on the pup." He said.
I awkwardly responded with a little smile.
Legoshi looked over at them. "Oh hey guys, yeah…I'm sure it'll be fun." He said quietly.
The eagle's gaze turned to me. "What about you Juno? You're more than welcome to come as well."
I held the wolf's hand and smiled awkwardly. "Oh, no I'm gonna just head home and go to bed. I'm really tired and worn out." I yawned again. "But great show guys, I really enjoyed it!"
The mongoose walked up to the two of us. "Legoshi, Juno, I've been thinking. I now feel a little bad about giving the announcement just like that. I wasn't thinking straight and I was just excited for you two and wanted to express my gratitude." Kai said, truly looking humbled.
I smiled and reached out my hand and pet the mongoose on his head. "It's okay Kai. Honestly, I think I would have just kept putting it off. Now I don't have to worry about all this secret keeping anymore." I smiled happily.
Kai's face turned to a smile as well. "Well… okay. I hope things don't change too much for you now."
"I'm sure they will but it's okay. I'm not afraid to move forward or afraid of what anybody has to say."
The eagle chuckled. "I'm not sure anyone would go out of their way to mess with a pregnant grey wolf, especially one that's dating a Beastar."
Aoba stopped himself as he said the words. Legoshi and I looked at each other with visible blushing. He still held my hand which I suddenly felt go clammy.
"I mean… I know it's complicated. All I'm saying is I'm sure Legoshi will protect you." He still blushed and I kinda felt upset. I was completely right about what would happen if I went to the party. I suddenly wanted to be alone for a while.
"Yeah… sorry guys I think I'm gonna head home."
Legoshi's face snapped back to me. "Oh okay, do you need anything?" he asked.
"Nope." I said matter of factly as he helped me to my feet. I waved and made my way to the exit. From over my shoulder I could hear the stunned and hushed words of Aoba. "Was it something I said?"
POV Haru
"…no" she said with a shrug off her shoulders, "I thought she went backstage with the drama-club."
The red vixen seemed a little lost as well right now. The show was officially over and most of the students had left the theatre house already.
I was glad at least Anita was still with me right now. The other boys from the 701 dorm were nowhere to be seen either, and I didn't find it appropriate to just go towards the backstage area and start looking for Juno uninvited.
But I was confident Legoshi would take good care of her. He had proven himself to be capable of that quite often already.
"Hey…" I told her, as she seemed a little lost for a moment as well, "…would you mind helping me out watering the garden quickly? It won't take long, I promise! Half an hour or so…"
She took another quick look around, then she shrugged her shoulders with a little smile. "Yeah, sure. Let's do it. I´m free until the evening anyway."
POV Juno
When I left the Exit of the backstage area, I was greeted by quite something different than I was expecting.
There were multiple vehicles parked rather close to the building, in an area where normally someone would immediately call a tow truck to get them removed. There was a little lorry with the logo of a catering firm on its sides, there was a van that could be from a radio or TV-station and there were a few fancy looking cars as well, I figured they must belong to some of the more influential people that watched the show today.
From the distance I had seen Legoshi talking to one of those media people shortly, but from Legoshi´s gestures and the shortness of the conversation, I was pretty sure he said no to whatever he had been offered.
These drama club performances had turned into really big events in the meanwhile. It appeared to be another peak of the club´s history they have reached today. Being on top of their game now that I wasn't able to perform anymore, while I now was the pregnant bitch that wanted to get home from the party early.
I truly was proud of them and their achievement, but I still was a little bummed I wasn't a part of it this time. Although I didn't show it, it was getting to me a little bit.
Kai seemed so incredibly relieved and happy ever since we told him he wasn't the father, and seeing him like this made it even harder to feel committed about becoming a parent. He obviously had the easier path now.
Slow but steadily I walked across the park towards the flat. It was about 5pm and still bright outside, but the roads and walkways weren't very busy right now.
When I started crossing the road, my heart suddenly stopped beating for a moment. On the opposite side of the road, just crossing the main entrance to the building Legoshi´s flat was in, a vixen with mostly white fur walked down the sidewalk. At first, I could just see her head because a black car parked on the curb covered her, but for a split-second I feared it could really be her.
This moment quickly passed though, because when she had walked past the car I could see she had a few light brown spots in the fur on her tail and on her neck as well. She also didn't have quite as much of an athletic build and her ears weren't quite as pointy either. I also guessed she was a few years younger.
And she also didn't even look at the door to the building, showing no interest in it whatsoever. She just looked down at her phone, seemingly living in a totally different world than me.
I quickly relaxed my posture a little again, hurrying to reach the other side as there were cars coming from the right.
I walked past the black car that was parked in front of the door and searched for the right key in my handbag. This black car was seen parked on this part of the street quite often, but since I knew why that was, I didn't really mind it anymore. Legoshi was quite famous in the meanwhile, and he also had a whole lot of enemies. He told us they were just looking out for us, and with everything that was going on around us these days, I actually was quite fine with that.
Just when I found the right key though, I heard the driver's door of the car opening behind me and somebody was getting out of it quickly.
"Excuse me, Miss" a rather deep and growly but still friendly voice asked me from behind, just as I was about to push open the door.
"Yeah?" I asked carefully, turning around and facing a rather fearsome large male wolf who slowly walked around the car and came a few steps closer.
"My name is Boris" he introduced himself, "Legoshi probably calls me Fluffy behind my back…" he added with a little sigh.
I nodded slowly, I remembered him talking about "Fluffy" before.
"What can I do for you?" I asked him rather plainly. I didn't want to be disrespectful, but I also wasn't in the mood for a very long talk with a stranger right now.
"I know It might seem inconvenient, but my boss told me to pick you up for a quick interview. It's becoming increasingly harder to protect the Beastar and the people around him, so she insisted on at least clearing up the rumors…"
"What…an interview?" I asked, not strictly following what he meant.
"I promise you´ll be back here this evening" he said with a little nod, gesturing to me to follow him towards his car.
A little part of me was actually interested in what organization actually was behind Legoshi, but a bigger part of me just wanted to rest my body right now. It was not like I didn't at all trust him, I knew who "Fluffy" was and that he didn´t like that nickname, but I really wanted to lay down and be alone for a little while.
"Is this really necessary today?" I asked with a little sigh, "I´m kinda tired and-"
"I'll promise we'll take good care of you" he said, "…but it's really time to clear a few things up in the meantime. I must insist you come with me, please!"
He now opened the door on the co-driver´s side of his car for me and I gave it another quick thought. Then I released the entrance door of the house, let it fall back shut again and went towards the car.
"What else could happen to me at this point?"
I asked myself. Maybe this could be interesting after all. Laying around alone while everyone else was at a great party wasn´t the most desirable thing either.
POV Boris
It was very different having her on the co-driver´s seat than it had been with Legoshi. She was a lot more self-aware but also a little more nervous than him.
I had been desperately searching for a topic to break the silence on our way towards the headquarters, but then I had a brain-wave, suddenly.
"Have you ever gotten to know her?" I asked softly, trying not to sound offending since I had a feeling this must not be the most comfortable topic for her either.
"Met who?" she asked, apparently not following me right away.
"Skye."
I noticed that little tremble in her posture again. It was just the same as when I saw her crossing the street earlier. She must have seen that white furred vixen as well.
"I've never talked to her in person," she explained dryly, "I just saw her when she was fighting those lions on our stage."
"She's a beast when it comes to that. I'd be shitting my pants if I had to fight against her" I told her with a little chuckle, "…she'd totally mess me up."
"Oh she messed me up quite a lot as well, trust me!" Juno chuckled coldly.
I nodded slowly, not wanting to be disrespectful by rubbing it into her face even more.
"…but I guess she messed Legoshi up even more" she then added with a little sigh.
"He'd probably be dead right now if it wasn´t for her though" I told her, "It was not his fault he was being voted a Beastar, but without her preparing him for it-"
"I know" she interrupted me, "…I know there must have been a reason why Legoshi loved her so much. I can still see it in his eyes, he still isn't over her yet."
"I´ve never seen her show interest in anyone else but him" I sighed slowly, "And believe me, I would have done anything for just a night with her."
"That helps, thank you," she said coldly.
"I mean…" I sighed, sadly not having thought about it in advance what I had said before, "I don't mean it like that…"
That didn't make it any better for me.
"Oh you did" she corrected, "You just need somebody to vent about it."
"N-no…I mean" I stuttered, "…I´ve never met anyone she would even listen to! She's good at what she does, but nobody could tell her what to do and what not. Not even our boss, and she can be quite stubborn as well…"
She just shrugged her shoulders in disinterest.
"What is that supposed to tell me now?"
I regretted having started that conversation in the meanwhile. She hated Skye just as much as I still missed her. I wasn't even sure anymore why I wanted to talk about her in the first place.
I guess I just wanted Juno to agree with me that Legoshi should have been in love with her instead of Skye, but I should have known that this had been an unspoken truth already.
The rest of the ride we both spent in silence. I parked the car in front of the building, turned off the engine and opened the door for her after I had gotten out of the car. She followed me slowly and
I opened every other door for her as well, all the way through the building until we finally reached Ten´s office.
"Just a second" I told her, quickly entering the room and closing the door behind me.
Ten looked up from whatever she was reading right now, but she didn't say anything.
"She's here" I let her know.
She nodded.
I opened the door again and asked Juno to come in, she followed me after a short moment of hesitation, then she took a seat on the opposite side of the desk when Ten offered it to her.
"I'm glad you made it" the red vixen greeted her, "I hope Fluffy treated you well?"
She nodded slowly, didn't say anything about it though.
"Good."
Ten quickly flashed a contented little smile, then she slowly folded the newspaper she was reading into its original shape, put it aside and looked at her guest again.
"I normally wouldn't care about who Legoshi lets live in his flat. But I like having them being aware of what's going on around them…"
"Is he in trouble with somebody?"
"Well…" Ten sighed, "Nothing really bad so far…but it's costing us a lot of nerves, money and manpower to keep it that way."
"Why do you keep doing it then?" Juno asked rather plainly, "I haven't seen Legoshi being involved in any clan business recently…"
"Legoshi is the ultimate weapon for us. The media loves him, the police love him, our enemies fear him and the Inarigumi are finally getting the respect and the status they deserve. I went all in with this, sweetheart, and it was worth it, although I had to sacrifice one of my best agents."
I wasn't quite sure why Ten shared all that information with her just like that, but I guessed she had respect for the pregnant wolf girl who really took the time to come here for this.
"What, she's dead?!" Juno asked in slight shock.
"No, she's not dead!" Ten shook her head with a little smile, "But she can't come back here. At least not for a fair few years."
The pregnant wolfess just nodded understandingly, not having anything to comment about it though.
"Has he gotten over her yet?" Ten asked quite plainly, apparently aware how cruel that question might be.
"No" Juno answered, shaking her head slowly, "He´d still fuck her if she hadn´t left to protect him."
Now it was the vixen who just nodded understandingly.
"-and now this dumbass offered to marry me just because he got me pregnant" the wolf added in slight anger, "It can't get a whole lot more messed up at this point, really."
Ten´s expression now suddenly derailed a little bit. She almost seemed to be caught off guard a little bit, as that seriously had her speechless for a little moment. Almost as if she could relate to what Juno just told her.
Then she suddenly turned towards me. "Fluffy, could you please be a darling and get us some Tea, please?"
She said that in a way as if she really wanted me to leave the room right now. This seemed to be a lot more interesting for both of them than I first had imagined it would be.
I of course nodded silently, never to deny any of her wishes, then I went towards the door and left them alone.
POV Legoshi
The atmosphere had lightened up a little in the meanwhile. The theatre and TV-people had started packing up their stuff and left the building, we had hungrily decimated the food supplies of the buffet and I really learned to value the cider that was standing around everywhere. The alcohol helped me relax a little bit, the heated discussion I had with Juno earlier almost seemed forgotten for a moment.
We gave a few interviews to the school wave reporters, posed for Dom´s camera, first one by one and then in one big group-photo, and just like with our first performances light-heartedly celebrated our successful premiere together. I´ve actually missed that quite a lot since the last premiere had been such a disaster.
When I went outside to get a bit of fresh air, I finally had a chance to check my phone which had been vibrating because of new messages a couple of times already. They were from Haru, and they appeared to be quite important. I immediately felt bad for having ignored them this long.
"Legoshi, have you seen Juno?" /
"?" /
"Legoshi! Is Juno still at the party with you?" /
She said in her messages.
"No, she went home over an hour ago!" /
"Back to the flat I mean…" /
I replied.
"She's not in the flat! I just went there to check again! I'm worried about her, Legoshi!" /
She said. She continued typing and I waited for her next message.
"She's not responding to my messages either. Where are you right now?" /
I was on really high alert in the meanwhile. I didn't like any of those messages, and after this talk I had with her earlier, I suddenly had the worst pictures imaginable in front of my eyes.
"Are you at the flat?" /
I asked back, not wanting to waste any more time.
"Yes" /
"Okay, don't move! I´m on my way!" /
POV Juno
"What…you founded this clan because he left you alone with the kid?" I asked in pure disbelief.
The red vixen with the black eye-patch nodded slightly, I believed she even was fighting tears in the meanwhile.
"He…" she said, "…he just saw a random vixen in me. He didn´t take me for a full member of society, he always just looked down on me."
I took a deep breath when she told me that. If there would ever be a reason to create a clan this powerful and -probably- not all that obedient to the law, this certainly would be one of them.
I suddenly had a whole lot of respect for this woman.
"And then he just bailed when he found out he was the father?" I asked lowly.
She nodded again, rubbing dry the eye that was not covered by a patch with her hand. "Legoshi might be a dumbass…" she said with a little chuckle, taking a deep breath, "But his heart is in the right place."
I knew that all along, but it felt like it now had extra meaning when she said it.
"I was prepared to love and stay loyal to him for the rest of my life" I told her, now actually fighting tears as well, "I would have married him on the spot…"
I took a deep breath.
"But I just can't give him what his heart desires. He's not in love with me, he won't ever be entirely happy with me by his side."
"I know this hit´s hard right now" Ten told me with a warm-hearted smile, "…but you really can be glad you´ve noticed it so early. Some people realize that when it's way too late already."
"I guess so" I sighed, trying to force a little smile as well.
She took a closer look at my belly now.
"When´s the big day?"
"In the middle of July or something like that."
"You have a name already?"
"Leon."
She nodded with a little smile, apparently liking the name as well.
"Well…" she then concluded, "Now that I know what's going on. You´re more than welcome to stay in the flat of course. And please, don't be shy to ask for help if you´re not feeling safe or something like that!"
"Thank you!" I told her, almost feeling a little sentimental by how nice she treated me. I was glad I came here after all. "I really appreciate it!"
"No matter what comes, I know you´re gonna be a good mother and you´re gonna raise your boy to be a fine gentleman!"
"Oh I really hope so" I chuckled, feeling quite cheered up in the meanwhile, "…I´m gonna teach him how to treat a lady right!"
"Good manners are really important whoever you're talking to" she said with a little smile, "…but I'm afraid you can't decide what your heart wants in the end."
"Yeah, I guess that's true…" I chuckled, "…still, maybe he´s not as dumb as his father when it comes to love."
"Leon is gonna give you back all the love you gave him one day, you´ll see!" she said with a warm hearted smile, "…I get reminded about it every time I visit my daughter."
I never expected to have so much fun talking to an actual clan-leader, but now that I knew we shared somewhat of a similar experience, I just found it really nice and exciting.
Now I was glad she ordered Fluffy to get us some tea and I didn't have to go back home too soon. There probably was a lot more useful and interesting stuff she could tell me.
"…how often do you see her? Has she moved out already?"
She didn't strike me as being a whole lot older than 35 maybe, so her daughter not living with her confused me a little bit.
"It's too dangerous for her to live anywhere near this city. As much as it hurts, I can only see her once a month…"
"Oh no…" I said lowly, "That sounds like torture!"
"Life isn't fair darling," the red vixen with the eye-patch told me with a deep sigh, "…but you have to enjoy it as much as you can..."
POV Legoshi
The first thing I noticed when I crossed the street was that there was no black car to be seen anywhere. There always was one here at this time of day. Something must have happened.
"Shit, why now?" I cursed under my breath, "The one time this surveillance bullshit would actually have helped, and…"
"Fluffy!" It suddenly came to my mind, "Maybe he knows something!"
Before I even entered the house, I pulled my phone from my pocket and searched for his number in my contacts. It appeared I actually was a little drunk, because it turned out I had scrolled past it twice before I finally found it.
It took a little while until he picked up, but I still was glad to hear his grumpy voice.
"What?" he asked dryly, already sounding a bit like he knew something.
"Boris, we can't find Juno anywhere, do you know something?"
"She's having a little talk with Ten right now. I'll bring her back when they're done."
"You could have let us know about it in advance!" I told him in a slightly annoyed tone I wasn't able to hide.
"Unclench, kid" he grumbled, "There wasn't much chance for me to do so. She's here and well. I just made them a cup of tea."
I relaxed a little now. He didn't sound like he was joking and this probably had not been his idea either.
"Try not to stress her out too much" I sighed, now calmer.
"No need to. I think you´re doing that just fine yourself."
I was a little speechless about that comment. I didn't think he would say something as savage as that, but he probably was just plain right about that.
"Yeah, yeah…" I sighed softly.
"See ya later, kid. I got stuff to do."
"Yeah, see you…" I sighed, and with that Boris had ended the call already.
I just kept standing there on the side of the road for a few moments, lost in my thoughts and without any idea of what to do next.
I put my phone back into my pocket and yawned. I thought about going back to the party for a moment or two, but then I decided to tell Haru about the situation face to face.
I went up the stairs and started searching for my keys, when she already opened the door from the inside.
"There you are! Finally!" she panted, "I just talked to the neighbors, they haven't seen anything either and-"
"She's fine" I calmed her down, explaining with a tired little sigh: "I just talked to Boris, they took her to the Inarigumi for a little interview-"
"Who is Boris?"
"Fluffy" I cleared up, and she now seemed to connect the information, "They wanted to know what's going on with her living in the flat as well. And what's up with the pregnancy…"
She now moved back into the flat again slowly, I followed her and closed the door behind us.
"So they'll bring her back here later?" she wanted to know.
I nodded with a little sigh, walking into the living room and throwing myself onto the couch lazily. I felt so weak and all out of energy all over sudden.
Haru did the same on another part of the couch and exhaled deeply. She seemed to be calming down rather quickly for being this alert earlier, but equally exhausted as me nevertheless.
"The show was good…" she then changed the topic, apparently needing some distance from it as well right now, "…I guess the theatre-people were content?"
I nodded with a little smile.
"You were missing a wolf girl though…" she chuckled.
"Yeah" I agreed with another little sigh, "It isn't quite the same without her…"
"…the same without her" it went through my head once again, my thoughts being totally elsewhere than the drama club in just a matter of milliseconds, "Nothing is the same without her!"
Another deep sigh escaped my lips.
"Her."
POV Juno
"So what was her deal in the end?" I asked curiously, looking down at my tea cup while speaking the words though, "She really wanted to end the Shishigumi?"
"Believe it or not, yes" Ten affirmed, "They killed a very good friend of hers after all. He was a bunny of her age, she knew him since childhood. Those vicious lion-bastards had cold-bloodedly killed and eaten him. She couldn't save him back then, but then she witnessed how Legoshi saved the little bunny girl from your school and…"
I was literally getting sick in my stomach while she told me that. Legoshi had never told me about any of this. For me that white furred vixen had always been that pretty and badass agent who just liked to kick people and ruin relationships, but now that I knew more about her background, that suddenly changed.
"…her friend…had been killed and…"
It really felt uncomfortable repeating those words right now, but I couldn't stop myself before they went across my tongue.
Ten nodded slowly. "They almost shared the same fate…" she said softly, "Having to leave him must have hurt her just as much as it hurt Legoshi. Skye is a master of keeping a straight face, but that was one of the things she just couldn't hide."
My eyes were tearing up again at this point, but I just couldn't help myself.
All this made so much more sense now. Haru was still alive because of what Legoshi did, and Legoshi was still alive because that vixen tore down the Shishigumi with him.
Now she left in order to protect him, almost like Ten is doing it with her daughter.
Realizing all that just now hit me like a snapping tree-branch to the face.
"I hated her when I first smelled her scent on him" I confessed through my teeth, not being able to hide a little cry in my voice.
"I can imagine" Ten said with a little smile, "…so would everyone who's gotten their heart broken."
"I never knew about that!" I added, "Legoshi didn't tell us anything about that!"
She now tilted her head a little bit.
"The question is…would you have believed him?"
Although I immediately wanted to reply to something, it suddenly got stuck in my throat. She really had a point here as well.
"Don't beat yourself up over it" she told me with an encouraging little smile. "I just felt like you deserve to hear the full truth about the story."
My gaze rose a little bit once again, Ten was still smiling warmly.
"Thank you" I told her in all honesty.
"You´re welcome."
Although I really was glad about her arranging this meeting with me, I was really tired in the meanwhile. The tea was empty and even the most interesting conversations cost me too much energy to stay focused. It seemed my host noticed that as well.
"I'm glad we got to talk today Juno, always let me know if I can help you with anything!"
"Thank you, you´re very kind!" I told her with a truly thankful little smile.
"You should get some rest now, Boris will bring you home."
I nodded in agreement, actually glad she mentioned it. It appeared she had already texted him about it, because pretty much just in that moment the big grumpy wolf opened the door behind me and entered the room quietly.
"Fluffy, be so kind and bring her back home, please?" Ten told him with a little smile, "…I'll do the dishes in the meantime."
He came a few steps closer while she collected the tea cups on the tray the other wolf brought us earlier.
I tried to lift myself out of the chair I was sitting on in the meanwhile, but it really wasn't as easy as it used to be anymore. My belly had grown quite a bit in the meanwhile.
"Here…" Boris told me, reaching out to me with one of his hands, "…let me help you up."
I gladly took his offer and gave him a grateful little smile after he had pulled me up onto my feet.
"Let them all treat you with kindness." Ten reminded me with a little wink, following us towards the door with the tableau in her hands, "You know you deserve it."
I kinda had a feeling her gaze wandered off towards Boris a little when she said that, almost as if she meant it as a compliment, possibly even a little bit of a flirt towards him. She really wasn´t as stone-hearted as it might seem.
He didn't get that impression though, at least it didn't appear like he did.
I nodded with a little smile and Boris led the way outside.
Having left the room as well, she then went off into a different direction than Boris and I. We exchanged one last little smirk as a goodbye, then I followed Fluffy towards his car again.
"I'm sorry I was so mean earlier" I told him after a few minutes had passed on the drive home, "I didn't know anything about her."
He just nodded slowly, still keeping his eyes on the road. I was seeing him with slightly different eyes now as well, I wanted to at least make things right with him before he dropped me off at the flat.
"She had her reasons," I added.
He nodded again, apparently having known that for quite a while already.
The lights turned green again, the cars in front of us started moving forwards slowly.
"Do you have any idea where she went?"
He shook his head slowly.
"You think Ten knows?"
"Even if she does, I doubt she´s gonna tell any of us." he explained with a little sigh.
I believed him when he said that. Not even Legoshi seemed to know about it.
"I hope she's doing fine" I said lowly, actually being serious about what I had said.
"I'm sure she'll find her way to get by…", he sighed, having confidence in his voice, "She always does."
We had almost reached Legoshi´s flat again in the meantime, but there was one question I still wanted to ask him before he could park the car by the side of the road.
"What about you, Boris?" I wanted to know, "Are you going to be okay?"
"I´m gonna be okay, don't worry about me" he said coldly, apparently not wanting to talk about that too much either.
I didn't quite believe him that after all this new information I got today, but I couldn't complain about it either. He had treated me nicely and I wasn't in any position to ask him about his personal life.
Before I had even opened the door on my side, he had already gotten out of the car and offered me his hand again.
"Thanks for the trip" I told him with an honest little smile, "I'm glad you convinced me."
He nodded with a tired little smile towards me, then he closed the door on my side and slowly went back around his car again.
"I think she likes you by the way", I told him with a confident little smile, before turning around and heading for the entrance of the building. "Why don't you just ask her out for a nice dinner or something like that?"
That certainly made him stop in his tracks when he was about to get into his car again.
"Ask who?" he asked, visibly confused about what I suggested.
I didn't say anything but just symbolically covered my right eye with my right hand.
He kept on staring at me in slight disbelief, but I just turned around again after showing him one last little smile, leaving the rest up to him what to do with that information.
It appeared that Legoshi wasn't the only dumb wolf when it came to being flirted with, and that somehow brought a genuine little smile to my face right now.
The world wasn't at all perfect, but in the end it pretty much comes down to what you make out of it. What's there to lose if it can't get any worse?
No wolfgooses (or Wolfgeese?). Anyway, glad you´re sticking around.
~furr