Hey guys, what´s up? Here is chapter 4 and I hope you like it.
Big thanks to Dekra for his correction work and to RedLiteAlexi for contributing a little but very cute part to this chapter!
Enjoy!
Beastars – Into the Spotlight 2.0
Chapter 4 – A secret worth sharing
POV Lucy
Leon was seemingly quieter today. It appeared that slapping him in the face yesterday had somewhat changed his attitude. But now he wasn't even looking at me anymore. Not just with me, it seemed like he tried to avoid any form of eye-contact with anyone, and I kind of had the feeling Sanu noticed that too.
I wasn't quite sure if he was doing it on purpose, but it seemed like he was taking care of everything but the actor´s team right now.
We listened for over 15 minutes how he instructed the stage crew and the art department for what the costumes, the stage build and the lighting were supposed to look like.
I was beginning to ask myself what I was even doing here right now.
When he finally was finished with that, he didn't even begin with the leads, he began explaining the freaking side roles. I was honestly thinking of quitting the club right now, maybe this was just a waste of time after all. My spirits were pretty low at this point.
"Count Paris is a rich but rather naive character" Sanu explained to Haruto, showing him some of the lines from the script, "The Capulet Family wants to marry him to Juliet for political reasons, he's pretty much fine with it."
The other avian nodded with great interest, but I wasn't quite sure if he fully understood that already. I sure didn't.
"Your character comes from a rich, noble family and pretty much behaves like he owns everything and everyone. He's well-dressed and styled" Sanu continued, "most people would call him handsome."
"Well, isn't that a flattering thing to say?" Tao chuckled ironically, widely grinning at Haruto now.
"Yeah, yeah" he replied with a little chuckle himself.
Sanu was not to be brought out of his concentration though.
"I want to make this role more funny than it usually is." The pelican explained further, "You're gonna have to play it upbeat. Act simple minded and naive but in a likable way. Your character really cares about Juliet, but mostly because your family told you to do so, not because you're actually in love with her."
"Is this…is it like a status-thing?" the wandering albatross asked.
"Sort of…" the old pelican affirmed with a nod, "…even though Juliet´s family would profit from that marriage a lot more than him."
He nodded understandingly.
"Also…" Sanu continued, "I want you to fly for every entrance. As much as possible. This probably means you're gonna have to walk around the audience room a couple of times while you´re off-stage so your entrance can always be from behind the audience…"
This just confused us even more.
"Wait, I'm allowed to fly here?"
"Yes" Leon said, almost sounding a little dogmatic here, "It's a closed building."
Sanu nodded to what he said though. "Our stage is a closed building and you don't have to have a flyers license to fly in here."
"What, really?" Haruto now asked with gleaming eyes, "That's so cool!"
Sanu nodded, stalling in his explanation for a moment. Then he suddenly waved us to follow him for some reason. We all stood up from the floor lazily and he led us into the hallway, towards the wall where all the pictures from the old shows were presented. He stopped at one that showed a bald eagle flying high above the audience in the middle of a show. The viewers just gazed at him in pure awe. From the point of view this picture was taken and it was pretty clear that this was not our stage. What was pretty obvious though, was that Legoshi was in this picture too, standing on the stage and looking after the bird as well. I was pretty sure I knew who this was.
"This picture was taken from the highest loggia in the city theatre audience room" Sanu explained, "The name of the bald eagle you see here is Aoba. I'm sure a lot of you have heard of him, he's almost as popular today as the grey wolf you see in the background…"
"He's so awesome," Haruto said slowly, looking at the pictures with great interest.
Sanu nodded. "When we performed this piece here on our stage for the first time, none of us, except for Legoshi, had even known he was about to set off and fly. It was their idea to make the premiere performance more exciting. And it worked, the people talked about this show for days…"
"You guys think they still hang out together?" Hazel asked, "Legoshi and Aoba I mean…"
Some of them just looked at Leon now for some reason, but he didn't seem to notice. He didn't really seem to care about any of this, it seemed like he had just as little motivation for this left as me.
"I'm pretty sure they do." Sanu guessed, leading us back into the rehearsal room again. "I´ve just recently seen them giving an interview together."
"Man" Haruto said, "I hope I could be as cool as them one day."
POV Legoshi
The spring sun was getting more and more powerful with every day. While Haru was swimming up and down the pool, Juno and I just remained lying on the loungers, warming our fur in the sun.
We all had a pretty exciting but also exhausting night behind us, and now being able to relax like this was just heaven.
When Juno and I had decided to buy our own house and property, we had fallen in love with this place immediately. It was quite expensive and some would probably even call it decadent, but the privacy that came with this property made it invaluable. The hedges were big and prevented people from spying on us. The gate was solid and almost unclimbable. I guess hardly anybody even knew that I lived here in the first place, keeping a low profile really paid off in this regard.
But there was one of my friends who never struggled with the hedge or the gate, and I barely ever noticed him before he had already landed on my porch.
Just a shadow and the draft from his wings announced his presence.
"Look at that" he greeted with a soft little chuckle in his voice, "John Wick lying on his back chilling by the pool. You taking a day off from slitting people's throats?"
Juno seemed a little shocked at first, but then when she recognized who it was, she immediately relaxed again.
"Huh? Aoba?" I asked, turning towards him, shielding my eyes from the sun with my hands.
"What´s up, Legoshi?" he asked, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"
"No…" I yawned lazily, getting up from my lounger and covering my lower half with the towel I had been lying on, "Not at all…what are you doing in town?"
"Just meeting up with a few old friends who still live here. I´ve been invited by a friend I haven't seen in a while…but I´m a little early."
"Do you want anything to drink?"
I followed him towards the more-shady part of my porch, pointing out the fridge in the bar in my living room.
"Some water would be really nice," he said with a little nod, "Thanks."
I got us two fresh bottles of water and handed one over to him. Then I opened mine and drank about half of it in one go. I must have been lying in the sun longer than I first thought I had.
"How are you doing?" I then started the conversation again, "Taking some time off after the last shoot?"
"Yeah" he sighed with a little nod, "It does me really good to just relax a bit."
"Everything good with your daughters?"
He nodded excitedly. "I think they´ve finally started enjoying their lives this far away from all the big cities."
I nodded contentedly. A few years ago, he had asked me for my opinion when he was thinking about buying a house in the Fuji mountains so he could teach his daughters how to fly. It seemed like he hadn't regretted that decision yet.
"For you guys it's never far anyways, is it?" I asked him with a little wink. "Do you even own a car?"
"I haven't even got a driver's license" he chuckled with a shake of his head, "Cars are for moving around heavy stuff. I usually hire some movers for that."
"Yeah, yeah" I grinned, "Thanks."
"Hey, you´re not looking too bad yet" he said with a chummy wink, "Guess you're still rather heavy nevertheless."
I took another long sip from my water bottle with an amused smirk about that comment, then I noticed how Juno was getting up from her lounger as well now. She covered herself in her bathrobe and then slowly slouched towards us.
"Oh, I hope I didn't wake you up?" Aoba asked her lowly.
She just shook her head with a little smile while stretching herself a little. I reached her the water bottle I had started and she began drinking contentedly.
Haru had left the pool in the meanwhile, calmly walking towards the lounger that she had put her towel on earlier. She wrapped it around her wet body then set out for a little tour through my garden, inspecting the rose bushes that had started blooming in the meanwhile.
"By the way, how is Leon doing?" the bald eagle now asked, "He must have started with Highschool this year, right?"
Juno and I nodded affirmingly.
"He joined the drama club" Juno told him with a little smile, "I already told him to greet Sanu for me."
"Really?" he asked excitedly, "Oh that´s awesome! Finally, a new superstar wolf on the Cherryton stage!"
"We'll see," I said with a little grin and a shrug of my shoulders, "…I just hope he gets along with his club mates and makes some friends."
Aoba now nodded understandingly, apparently being not all that unfamiliar with that topic either.
"My daughters had kind of a hard time fitting in" he sighed, "I really thought I had raised them to be humble and down to earth, and I think they are…"
I nodded understandingly, being a little concerned as I already was thinking the very same thing about Leon.
"…but people find out about everything these days."
I nodded again, knowing very well about what he meant. I looked up the Wikipedia article about myself once and it was really scary how accurate most of that was.
"He's gotten quiet lately" Juno mentioned, "I hope he doesn't get hated or bullied because he's our son."
Aoba nodded understandingly. "I think the best they can do is ignore it. Maybe their classmates are going to realize they're not any different sooner or later."
POV Leon
All this seemed so pointless right now. Lucy still didn't seem to be interested in performing this piece with us, Sanu explained details to us that didn´t appear to have any sense or reason and my general motivation was at a pretty low level as well.
When he finally did talk about my role, I was hardly even listening at that point.
He went on about passion and the blinded love for Juliet or something like that and I just nodded haphazardly.
He now told me to read out a line of text from the script, it took me quite a little while until I even found the right page.
"Why, oh why, does she have to be a Capulet? Why, oh why, do I have to be a Montague?"
I read out,
"Oh I am fortune's fool…"
This was just so stupid. Why did I ever think it was a good idea to join this club?
"Continue…" Sanu told me with a motion of his hands.
I had already lost the line in the text, finding it again seemed to take forever right now.
"…feather of lead" I sighed, "bright smoke, cold fire, sick health…still-waking sleep, that is not what this is."
"Lucy!" Sanu now called her out.
"Why oh why?" she sighed, apparently being just as motivated for this as me, "…why oh why do you have to be a Montague, why oh why…"
"…why oh why does this old language have to be so weird?" I asked ironically, as Lucy didn't seem to find her next words anymore at all.
"Come on, stick to the script now." Sanu advised me rather strictly this time. It seemed like he wasn't all that easy about it anymore.
"Oh sweet Juliet!" I spoke up, as the next line in my text said, "Parting is such sorrow and… …shit, where was I…"
"Okay, Stop here for a moment" the pelican now sighed, looking first at me and then at Lucy. "What is the matter?"
Lucy and I now quietly looked at each other but said nothing. I just shrugged my shoulders slightly.
"Leon," the pelican now told me rather directly, "You can´t deny you´re having fun on stage. Even though you´ve been trying your hardest to mess it up for some reason, you still enjoyed doing it. You know what you can do on stage and you know people are listening. Why don't you use that gift effectively?"
I felt a little exposed right now. We all knew he had a point there, but I hadn't expected him to just say it like that in front of everyone. I knew I was more used to being on stage than all the others here, but it seemed like I was hoping that even without trying my hardest, that would easily suffice here.
"I…" I said lowly, shrugging my shoulders a little once more, "I…would enjoy doing it…" I told him, "I just don't think it's any use if the others don't want to play with me."
"What do you mean?" Kibi now asked in slight confusion, "I have no problem playing with you."
"Yeah" Haruto agreed, "Me neither…I think this could be fun."
"Who doesn't want to play with you?" Hazel the gazelle asked in slight confusion as well.
They all obviously had a slight foreboding already, and that suspicion got strengthened even more when everybody just remained staring at Lucy after a little while.
"…it would be nice if you at least apologized" she muttered lowly, "I´m sorry I wasn´t all that enthusiastic about completely switching to a new piece after we had been rehearsing for the old one for a whole week already, but a little sorry for the shit you said to me yesterday should be the least you can do."
They all looked at me now with great interest, apparently really curious what I had said to her yesterday. I was afraid of this being brought up here today, but at least she wasn't specifying it right now. I decided to take that opportunity.
"I´m…I´m sorry for what I said to you yesterday" I sighed, taking a deep breath, "…and I'm sorry I'm your worst nightmare. I'm sorry that I'm not like your big idol Legoshi and I'm sorry that I was chosen to play Romeo."
Nobody said anything after I was finished with that statement. Luckily.
"Happy now?" I asked.
That line about my dad seemed to have changed something about her attitude all over sudden. Earlier, I wasn't quite sure if I should really mention that in the first place earlier, but it seemed to have been the right decision after all.
"I don't expect you to be like Legoshi…" she now said, slightly reserved. "I…I just hope we can respect each other more in the future, okay?"
I struggled to understand when I supposedly had been disrespectful in the rehearsals yesterday, but for the sake of peace I nodded with a little sigh nevertheless.
"Okay" I said, trying to force a little smile, "I'll try my best."
They all seemed content with that for now.
"Good!" Sanu concluded, "Now that that's settled, can we start taking this seriously please?"
POV Lucy
We really were taking it seriously from now on. It seemed like this really just had to be settled between us since yesterday. He now swallowed his grudge as well and actually started reading his script. So did we all for that matter. It was a completely new wave of energy that had hit us all of a sudden.
Now that I was seeing more clearly as well, I actually had to confess that I thought he really had talent for the stage. What I noticed the most was how well he played with the timing.
While Kenji and I had been mostly rushing through our lines to get them over with as quickly as possible, he left little pauses here and there, varied in his loudness and tone and really gave his character a lot of playfulness.
It almost seemed a little too experimental, but Sanu wasn't stopping him. Apparently, this was just what we needed.
We were trying a few scenes over and over again, and we were actually making progress with how smoothly it went now. And now that we finally were making progress, we started to have quite a lot of fun as well.
The time just flew by this session, I hadn't even noticed that it was 5:30PM already when Sanu suddenly gathered all of us together one last time.
"Good progress everybody" he said contentedly, "Tomorrow we'll take a closer look at the choreographies and at the fight scene."
He now looked at Kenji and Leon.
"That second part mostly involves you two for this piece."
They nodded shortly while taking a short look at each other.
"By the beginning of next week" the pelican continued, "I want you all to know your parts of the script all by heart."
That ridiculous request made all of us sigh in annoyance. This would be a whole lot of work and require time I didn´t have.
"Oh come on, what?" Kibi now asked, "That's not possible!"
"You'll see it's not as bad as you think right now." Sanu stood by his statement.
I quickly browsed through my script again, I had all my parts highlighted with a green marker in the meanwhile. There was a lot of green on a lot of pages.
"Now! Romeo and Juliet," Sanu called us out. "Your dynamic is looking more and more promising. But you need to practice your key parts more. We're still lacking that …zest, and playfulness. Maybe you could practice your texts together during the weekend?" he suggested.
Leon now looked at me and just shrugged his shoulders. It didn't look like he had anything against it, I was pretty much free for the entire weekend as well, except for Sunday evening when I had to work.
We both nodded a little, Sanu got back up onto his feet now and moved towards his office.
"Have a good evening everybody!" he waved us, "See you tomorrow!"
Five minutes later I met Leon in the hallway again. It seemed like he had been waiting for me here as he was just casually looking at some of the pictures on the wall when I joined him.
"We could meet Saturday afternoon if you want" I suggested easily, not wanting to scare him as he seemed a little lost in thought.
"Oh…yeah" he now turned his attention towards me, "If that´s fine for you…"
"Well…" I sighed with a slight chuckle, "My dorm is quite a mess though. My roommates usually stay in for the weekends and probably hate my guts if we practiced there."
"Yeah, same here." He sighed. "And they're usually watching TV or gaming."
"What about the rehearsal rooms?" I suggested.
"Don't know, aren't they locked up during the weekend?"
I just shrugged my shoulders about this as well.
"We could practice at my place…" he now suggested with a bit of hesitation, "I mean…my parents are home, but my room is on the second floor and pretty far away from them."
"What are you afraid of them listening in on us?" I asked with an amused grin.
That comment of mine made him smile a little bit, but then he shook his head.
"No, I think it should be fine."
"Alright" I said contentedly, "So Saturday."
He nodded and I went on my way again. I didn't feel like asking for his number or his home-address right now, there still were a couple of days left for that.
"See you tomorrow" I told him while I opened the door to the exit, trying myself on giving him a little smile.
"Yeah…" he said with a short wave, "See you."
I was glad we got along a little better now. This could actually become something good after all.
The late afternoon sun was still out and powerful, I now hurried to get back to my dorm. Bailey and I wanted to go swimming in the pool while it was still warm outside, but we would have to start really soon as the sun was slowly beginning to go down already.
POV Aoba
I was just about to set off in order not to be late for the appointment I had here in the city, when I just remembered something else.
"Oh by the way, happy birthday belated!"
It was just after the middle of April, his birthday was on the ninth if I remember correctly. He never was one to make a big fuss about it, but he usually liked to invite all his friends to a party to catch up with them every year.
"Thanks," he said with a little smile, "…I hope you've gotten our invitation?"
I nodded. "…when was the party you had planned again? This weekend, right?"
"Saturday" he reminded me with a little smile, "I hope you're free?"
"Oh I'm sure I can swing by for a drink or two…" I affirmed, "I have an interview in Tokyo, but if the weather plays along that´s not too much of a problem. Hina and the kids should be there earlier though."
"Awesome" he smiled contentedly, waving at me quickly as I was about to take off from his lawn, "See you then!"
"See you guys next chapt- …I mean next Saturday" I waved them back with a happy smile, "Thanks for having me!"
POV Lucy
"Come on Bailey" I told her, "It's gonna get cold when the sun goes down!"
"I'm coming!" she panted as I kept the door open for her.
She made it up the last few stairs, stepping out onto the roof into the late afternoon sunlight with me.
This was a good time to go for a swim here, I just noticed. When I had checked it out last week after the lunch break when I had to wait for rehearsals to start, every swimming line was either taken already or some students were just lazily floating around on the water.
Now there were just two other students swimming in the pool, both of whom were taking their training really rather seriously as it looked like. The otter was swimming at a much faster speed than the red fox in the lane next to him, but it also looked a lot more effortless for him as he clearly had the biological advantage for this sport.
Bailey and I had put on our swimming gear in the dorms already and now we just had to remove our shirts and pants to be ready for the water. We quickly put our clothes and our towels onto one of the benches and then headed towards the ladder.
Bailey checked the water temperature with one of her feet and immediately came to the conclusion that it wasn't very warm.
"Jikes…" she said, "That's freezing!"
"Gonna get warmer when you start moving" I told her with a grin, "Come on, get in!"
"You get in!" she complained with a chuckle, "You wanted to come here!"
"Come on" I grinned at the chocolate-colored Labrador, "You´re not afraid of a bit of water, are you?"
While we bickered, the red fox who had been swimming in lane 1 exhaustedly lifted himself out of the pool next to the ladder, apparently having finished his workout for today. He took a seat on the edge of the pool, his feet still hanging in the water while he was trying to catch his breath again.
His face looked somewhat familiar I noticed a moment later, he was in our class as well I just remembered. I had his name on my tongue, but Bailey was faster than I.
"Hey Julian" she greeted him excitedly.
He now turned his head towards us and smiled a little bit, even though he was still gasping for air soundly.
"Oh…hey Bailey!" he greeted her, waving her shortly.
His chest was heaving up and down while he breathed, water dripped from the tip of his ears and his body was shaking a little bit as he either was really cold or very exhausted from his workout.
I was left staring at him for quite a little longer than I felt comfortable with, but what I saw was really rather impressive. His muscles looked strong and well defined, his stomach was flat and abs showed through the white fur. I never knew he was this sporty, but I had never seen him without his school uniform before either.
"Hey Lucy." he now greeted me as well, apparently having found his breath again a little, "Everything alright?"
He smiled at me now, I wasn't quite sure if it was because he caught me staring or if he was just being friendly.
"Er…yes…" I stuttered, feeling a little flustered, "Yes! Everything's fine. W-what about you?"
He nodded with a positive but exhausted smile, looking at his feet in the water.
Bailey now tested the water again, still not seeming too convinced about going in.
"The water is still kinda cold" Julian now told her, "But it's alright when you're moving."
"O-Okay," Bailey said with a little smile at him.
It seemed that when it was coming from him that was a lot more convincing than when I had said it earlier. She now carefully got onto the ladder and slowly lowered herself into the water. It seemed like the handsome fox boy had a bit of a charming effect on her.
"IIIIkkk!" she shrieked when she suddenly let herself fall in with one sudden move, "That's cold!"
She started paddling around in circles a little in order to get used to it quicker and warm herself, Julian and I laughed a little bit.
"Told you" I chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah" she said, now setting off towards the other end of the pool.
Julian watched her swim for another few moments, then he turned towards me again.
"Are you finished with rehearsals for today?" he asked with an interested smile.
"I uhm…" I stuttered again, not quite sure how he knew about that or what his interest in that was about, "Have I told you that I was in drama club?"
He now shook his head a little bit. "No…" he said, "I don't think so. A dorm-mate of mine is there as well, that's why I was curious."
"Yeah?" I asked, "Who?"
"Guess who" he chuckled, "The superstar rich-kid."
"Huh?" I asked in great confusion.
There weren't a whole lot of other canines in the drama club, so I was pretty sure he must have meant Leon as he was a canine as well, but I didn't understand what he meant with that description of him right now.
His smirk now widened a little bit.
"…you mean Leon?" I asked with great interest, as it seemed really rather obvious to him.
"Who else could I mean?" he asked in slight confusion, shrugging his shoulders.
Bailey had made her way back towards us in the meanwhile, stopping for a moment, only continuing to paddle so she wouldn´t go under. It seemed like she had gotten used to the cold in the meanwhile.
"Are you still not in the water?" she asked with a challenging chuckle, "You chickening out right now?"
"Yeah yeah" I waved it off, being more interested in that other topic right now.
"What do you mean ´superstar rich-kid´?"
The fox now lifted his feet out of the water and got off of the floor, presenting his entire body to us with that. His short blue swimming trunks really didn't cover a whole lot. His legs looked just as strong and juicy as his arms or abdomen.
"What he hasn't told you?" he asked in even bigger confusion, "His dad´s the guy who plays John Wick. He was even in the background of that freaking movie once."
This initially just made me laugh when I heard it. This was just too ridiculous to be true, and it seemed like I was not alone thinking like that.
"Pfff…what? You´re joking!" Bailey asked laughingly, "As if Legoshi´s kids would go to a regular High school like this one!"
"Believe it or not," he said with a shrug of his shoulders, now getting his towel from one of the other benches, "But I can tell you is that he´s by far not as nice or humble as his dad."
I still didn't believe him. I´ve even been looking at pictures of Legoshi in the drama club hallway with Leon, I was sure he would have mentioned it already.
Bailey and I kept on watching the wet fox for a moment, then we looked at each other and smiled in amusement once again.
I waited for him to come past us again, as I wanted to tell him that I´ve actually met Legoshi in the restaurant yesterday evening. And that I was pretty sure he would have told me about Leon when I mentioned the drama-club and that I was pretty sure Leon would have told us about that as well by now if it was true.
But then I stopped myself just in time. I didn't want him to know that I had to work after school to get through the day financially.
And then I suddenly noticed that it wasn't too unrealistic after all. Legoshi still lived in this city as I found out yesterday.
Leon even had quite a similar look and stature as him at first glance. But right now I still wasn't sure if I should believe him or not.
"You sure he didn't just play with you there?" I asked him, "…I mean…he is kind of a clown after all."
"Honestly," he sighed with a shake of his head. "I wish he was. Has he really not told you about it yet?"
I just shook my head slowly, my fixation being his body once again while he continued drying himself with his towel.
"Anyway…" he said with another shrug of his shoulders, "I need to get back inside. See you tomorrow in class I guess?"
"Uhm…" I said, a little disappointed he wanted to end this conversation already, "Yeah…see you, Julian."
Bailey waved at him once more, then he went on his way to the door.
"Are you coming in the water now or what?" Bailey asked with a little chuckle.
I suddenly didn't feel like it anymore if I was totally honest with myself. It was getting kinda cold up here in the meanwhile and that water looked even colder now.
"What if he's right?" I switched the topic quickly, feeling really intimidated by that thought in the meanwhile, "…Legoshi does live in this town after all."
"Oh come on," she giggled. "I think Jules is just joking around."
"Jules?" I asked her while raising an eyebrow.
She now just smiled nervously, almost like she was feeling a little bit caught.
"You like him, don't you?" I asked her teasingly, "You've been checking him out just now."
"Oh shut up…" she muttered, "I´ve been talking to him before. He's nice and friendly to me."
I just teasingly patted her head with a little grin from above now.
"I checked him out too" I told her, "Don't worry you horny mutt."
"Lucy!" she yelled in embarrassment, "Stop that!"
Teasing her with Julian actually had me distracted from that information about Leon for a moment, but it was still looming in the back of my head.
To console Bailey a little bit, I now carefully climbed into the pool as well, clenching my teeth for a moment as the water really was even colder than I had anticipated it to be.
"Oh this water is fuckin freezing!" I muttered when I started paddling besides her.
"Language Lucy!" Bailey told me with a little chuckle, "Watch your language."
POV Mark
Julian seemed somewhat restless right now. Something had changed in his behavior since Leon spent the last night here.
The wolf wasn't here tonight, he had told me he would go pack some things at home so he could stay for the rest of the week starting tomorrow, but he wanted to spend this night at home as it seemed.
And that somehow seemed to annoy the red fox even more right now though. While he waited for Yuma to leave the bathroom, I watched him looking at Leon's empty bed a couple times, it seemed like he wanted to tell him something.
It bummed me out a little bit that the two of them didn't get along. Julian was my best friend ever since I've gotten to know him back in kindergarten already. He lived in the same little town as me, we grew up together, tried various different sports, went on trips and even on vacations with our parents together.
But I saw Leon as a good friend too, I didn't want them to hate each other for all this time we would be spending in this dorm together.
The pretty-boy fox once again was not shy showing off his muscles when he walked around the room, impatiently waiting for the dingo to come out of the bathroom. He just had a towel wrapped around himself right now and his wet fur smelled like chlorine. I was pretty sure he just came back from the pool on the roof.
Gerard was shamelessly watching him as well, not being able to hide a naughty little grin when the fox's gaze finally met with his. It appeared he had just been waiting for that to happen.
"You're actually going for a shower voluntarily today?" the striped jackal asked him teasingly.
"Oh shut up." he muttered, "Not doing it because of you! It's cold."
"Ah"
Julian now just turned away from him, apparently not being in the mood for that kind of banter right now.
Gerard turned towards me now. "Why are they all so tense today?"
I just shrugged my shoulders with a little smirk, then I continued erasing that mistake I just found in my math homework.
"What about you, Ronnie-boy?" Gerard now asked him, "What are you looking so stressed out about?"
"W-what do…" the Whippet looked up from his own homework, "…what do you mean?"
"W-w-what do I mean?" Gerard made fun of his flustered stuttering, followed by an even naughtier grin, "…when was the last time you rubbed one out?"
"W-what?"
"The last time you´ve watched porn and relieved some of that pressure?" He now explained the obvious, "…you look like you could really use some attention when it comes to that."
I now cocked an eyebrow at Gerard as even Julian seemed a little curious about that statement right now.
"Can I please focus on my homework right now?" Ronnie asked him meekly, obviously not wanting to engage in that topic any further.
But rather predictably, the flamboyant and perverted jackal wouldn't let go of that so easily.
"You should probably focus on getting some sexual relief my friend" he grinned at him, "It does wonders, I promise you."
"I'm not good with girls" Ronnie sighed slightly annoyed, "Please leave me alone."
"Who said it has to be a girl?" Gerard grinned in amusement.
Ronnie now shook his head in pure discomfort, I couldn't help but shake my head with a little sigh. Sometimes, this guy really went a little too far in my opinion.
Julian now looked at me for a short moment, I couldn´t hide an amused little smirk either.
"…It´s not gay if you´re on top you know" Gerard added with a big grin towards him.
The whippet just closed the curtains of his bed, apparently having enough of Gerard´s teasing for now.
"Is that so?" Julian now asked him dryly.
The striped jackal just grinned at him now.
"You know…that almost sounded like an offer to me…" the fox explained shamelessly, "…maybe he'll change his mind someday and actually call you up on that."
I was not quite sure if he was aware or not, but Julian tapped right into the jackal´s trap with that. It was his favorite hobby to tease people with their horny fantasies. This was just what he had been waiting for.
"What about you, hotshot?" he now grinned at the red fox, "You look kinda blue-balled as well foxy. There's a girl that's turning your head?"
"Shut up!" he told him dryly, "That's none of your business."
"Jeez" Gerard grinned in amusement, "So much testosterone."
"Shut your mouth or I might give you testosterone you little perv!" Julian now snarled at him, obviously feeling very annoyed being called out like that as well.
"That an offer pretty-boy?" Gerard grinned at him ironically, now teasingly licking over his lips, "…I´d prefer it if you took that shower first though."
"Ahhh you little!" Julian now enraged himself even more, actually walking up towards him now and balling his fists.
"Julian!" I stopped him just in time, getting off my bed and holding him back, "Come on! Relax, you know he's not serious!"
Gerard really looked rather scared of the red fox right now, I could tell he was a little intimidated by those arms. I was pretty sure Julian wouldn't actually try to hurt him though, he just wanted to show him that he could if he wanted to.
"That little bitch should really shut his mouth right now!" he yelled in annoyance, "What's his deal?!"
"You know he's a horny pervert" I tried to calm him down. "Just don't take it seriously, okay?"
He now angrily turned around again and shook my hand off of his shoulder. His fur was still really wet and cold, I figured that could be a reason for his mood as well.
Julian now went up to the bathroom door and knocked against it a couple of times.
"Come on, Yuma! Are you done soon? How long can it take?"
POV Leon
"Come on, how long can it take to find the button for the door-release?"
I was too lazy to search for my keys and I knew that they were home, so I rather waited for them to open the gate for me. After the third little stone I kicked into the hedge, the electric gate finally began to move.
When I made it up the driveway and into the house, my mom was already waiting for me. She wore a kitchen apron, I assumed she was preparing dinner herself tonight.
"I thought you wanted to stay in your dorm for the rest of the week." She greeted me with an amused chuckle.
"I'm going back there tomorrow. I need some fresh clothes and my toothbrush."
"There are washing machines at Cherryton too, you know?"
"I know. But I didn't have any spare clothing there in the first place…I'm staying in the dorms during the week now. I can sleep in longer in the mornings."
She nodded understandingly while I threw my stuff onto the ground for a moment, pulled my shoes off my feet and threw them onto the little shelf next to the other shoes.
I was glad they landed quite neatly this time, mom was already raising one of her eyebrows.
"How's drama-club?" she wanted to know, even before I made my way towards the staircase.
"It´s…" I sighed, thinking about how much I actually wanted to tell her yet, "…getting better. I think."
"Which role did they give you?" she asked excitedly, just as expected not letting me leave the topic like that.
"Why would you assume I'm on the actors team?"
"Oh, you're starting out like your dad? Working stage-crew?" she chuckled in slight confusion, not at all mad about it though.
I now shook my head with a little smirk. Sometimes I liked fooling my mom a little bit.
"I got a lead role, actually." I told her, "I didn't even audition properly, but the pelican immediately wanted me to play on stage."
"I assume he knows who you are?" she asked.
I nodded slowly. "But he doesn't make a big fuss about it, luckily."
"Come on, tell me already!" She kept on digging excitedly, "What piece are you playing?"
"Romeo and Juliet" I sighed, knowing she would absolutely love this.
"What, really?" my dad´s surprised voice suddenly came from the living room.
"Oh my god!" my mom yelled, just as dad peeked at the door frame as well, "You and Lucy are going to look so good together!"
My dad now grinned widely as well and watched how my mom was freaking out in excitement.
This now really stopped me in my tracks though. It seemed like it was me who was getting fooled right now.
"W-where…where do you know that from?"
Her smile just went even wider.
"Have you been stalking me at school?!" I asked in slight horror of that thought. This actually really flustered me right now.
Dad shook his head about that question though.
"We haven't been stalking you. She works as a waitress in our favorite pizzeria now" Juno explained, "She told us about her biggest inspiration and that's why she joined the drama-club in the first place…"
This was just unbelievable. I hated that they knew about her already, I was hoping they wouldn't find out about Lucy anytime soon.
"…of course she did" I said with a deeply annoyed sigh, now understanding very well why she was this over-the-top excited about it.
"Don't worry" my dad told me now while Juno was still celebrating, "…we didn't tell her anything about you."
I nodded understandingly. "…I noticed. Thanks."
"You know she's gonna find out sooner or later anyway honey" another voice now chuckled from the kitchen.
"Aunt Haru?" I asked, my tail slightly starting to wag in excitement. I hadn't seen her in forever.
She now came walking out of the kitchen with a welcoming little smile, wearing an apron as well over what appeared to be regular street clothing. It was rare to see her not wearing her green gardening outfit.
I put down my backpack and the sports-bag for a second time and hugged her quickly.
"Long time no see, baby boy" she greeted me happily, "How is High School? And how is my garden doing?" she added jokingly.
"I…" I chuckled, "I haven't checked it out yet to be honest."
She just smiled warmly once again, then she hurried back into the kitchen. "Sorry, can't talk now, I can´t let the food get burned!"
I was just so happy to see her again, and I was glad she hadn't changed ever since she moved out.
"I need to get my stuff into my room anyway."
"Don't take too long, dinner will be ready in 5 minutes!"
"Okay."
"Legoshi" I heard her yelling while I made my way up the stairs, "I need you to set the tables! Juno, you haven't finished cutting those herbs yet!"
POV Lucy
After taking a hot shower, things in my head finally slowed down a little. I still wasn't quite done with the hairdryer when Bailey stepped out of the shower, but she didn't mind sharing the bathroom with me anyway. Drying my mane always took forever, so I was really glad the sweet labrador girl let me shower first today. But eventually I got done with that as well and could finally throw myself onto my mattress for a couple of minutes of relaxation.
I closed my eyes for a moment and remembered the day I´ve had so far. Then I suddenly heard my phone buzzing, which was still lying next to my pillow.
I checked the lock screen and found out that it was just some spam mail. I unlocked the device anyway and checked what else had been going on while I was at drama-club and at the pool.
There were not a whole lot of other messages, just a few notifications from some people I followed on social media. Since I didn't have to work on Tuesday nights, I took the time to check them out a little closer, but most of the stuff wasn't really that interesting after all.
Then I suddenly had that wolf on my mind once again.
"Julian must have played with us. Legoshi doesn't have any kids. Leon would have told me about this if it was true."
To at least free my mind from that confusing pile of information, I quickly looked it up online. Just when I typed his name into the search bar, zoogle immediately showed me multiple results, articles and pictures, advertisements about the movies he acted in, interviews and random trivia, but nothing about kids at first glance.
I added the word "son" to the search bar and the results immediately changed a bit. There were pictures of him, Juno and a younger wolf now, and I almost instantly could associate him with Leon.
This immediately gave me chills. I clicked on it and started reading the article.
"Even though the humble actor is hiding most of his private life quite successfully, he was not afraid to show his son around the filmsets a couple of times. Despite being only 35 years young, Legoshi already became a father when he attended his last year of Highschool.
Today, his son Leon is at the age to join Highschool himself already. Whether or not he wants to follow in his dad's footsteps is not really clear yet, but he is to be seen in the background of a couple of his father's movies if you look very closely. Not a bad start for someone his age."
I just remained staring at that text dumbfoundedly. Julian wasn't playing with us, he told us nothing but the truth actually.
I couldn't believe this, this almost felt like a really bad prank right now.
"Is that where his confidence comes from? Is that why he´s so good at improvising?"
I just noticed Bailey coming back from the bathroom, I was glad I was not alone in the dorm right now.
"It's true" I told her solemnly, showing her the screen of my phone even though she was too far away to read.
"What's true?"
"Legoshi's son is in my drama club."
"No way! Julian was being serious!?"
I nodded slowly. "Just looked it up. There are pictures and articles online and everything."
"Wow."
I just shook my head and shrugged my shoulders in great disbelief.
"He never mentioned it. Not even when the others from the drama-club asked our president questions about him."
I just didn't understand it. What game was Leon playing here?
"…maybe" Bailey suggested after a moment of thinking, "…maybe he's tired of hearing it? His dad is an international celebrity after all."
"But…why hasn´t Sanu mentioned anything either?"
"Who?"
"The president of our drama-club. Legoshi had been at this school himself once."
"Maybe he didn't know it either…"
I just shrugged my shoulders, not really believing that though.
"I talked to his parents yesterday!" I then remembered, "I talked to them about the drama-club even! They didn't mention anything either!"
Bailey just remained smiling at me. She didn't really know what to say about this either as it seemed.
This really made me feel uncomfortable right now. This changed everything.
"Oh this is such a mindfuck!" I sighed, still not able to stop shaking my head.
"Language, Lucy!" she giggled.
"Fuck! Shit! Fucking fuck shit!"
She now came a step closer and punched me in the shoulder.
"…should I act like I´ve always known and just never cared? No, I probably couldn't act that out forever…"
Bailey shook her head to that as well.
"Fuck!"
"You have a crush on his dad but you have to play Romeo and Juliet with his son?" she chuckled.
My heartbeat suddenly went even faster when I got reminded about that again.
"He invited me over to rehearse at his place on Saturday! Am I seriously going to see Legoshi's house from the inside? Am I gonna meet him again?!"
I didn't tell Bailey that, but I probably didn´t do a very good job about hiding it either. This was just such a shock.
Bailey now got into some sort of squatting position in front of me while I was still sitting on my mattress and rested her hands on my knees. They were warm and actually calmed me down a little bit.
"Shit…you´re right." I sighed, "There is that too…"
"Come on!" she giggled, shaking my knees in a cheerful way, "It's gonna be alright. I think this is really exciting!"
"It's kinda scary if you ask me…" I muttered.
She now got up again and took a short symbolic look around the dorm. It was just the two of us right now.
"Seems like the others went to the cafeteria already. Wanna grab a bite as well?" she asked, "Might distract you a little bit for now."
"I uh…" I said, taking a short look around as well for some reason.
I didn't really feel like eating anything right now, I was actually feeling a little bit sick in my stomach, but I knew I really should get at least a little snack before going to bed, "…yeah, okay" I sighed while getting up onto my feet as well, "Let's go."
POV Leon
"Dad" I asked him after we were done with dinner and he had begun collecting the empty plates to bring them to the kitchen, "Can I go in the gym room tonight?"
He seemed a little confused by that question at first, but then he nodded.
"Yeah, sure. Why not? It's not locked or anything…"
"Since when do you want to work out?" my mom asked with an amused chuckle, "Wanna look good on stage?"
I just couldn't believe her sometimes.
"What? No!" I said, "What does that matter for the stage?"
"Oh your dad was shirtless a couple of times" she giggled.
"It's not about that mom" I sighed, "I…a dorm-mate of mine is really obsessed with working out and I just want to know what's so special about it."
"It surely can't be too bad to have some physical strength and stamina as an actor." Haru mentioned, "I imagine it can be quite exhausting performing an entire theatre piece."
I was glad she had my back here. She could tell this was somewhat of an uncomfortable topic for me around my parents, and I always really admired her for that ability.
"But you haven't gotten into a fight with anybody, have you?" Juno now asked, sounding a little concerned all of a sudden.
"No mom." I sighed, "There was no fight."
She now relaxed a bit once again.
"See" Haru told me proudly, "You´re already more mature than your dad was in Highschool. He was getting into fights all the time."
I suddenly wasn't able to hide a little grin anymore.
"Really?" I asked in slight wonderment, "Who was he fighting with? That tiger who´s girlfriend he f-"
"Whoa!" my dad stopped me now, "Hold on..."
My mom now suddenly laughed so hard she almost spat her wine all over the table.
"…now I gotta ask where you know that from."
"Sanu mentioned something like that" I grinned at him, "…he told us quite a few interesting things about ´the good old days´ actually…"
"I think I should have a word with him in the near future" he now sighed, shaking his head with an ironic chuckle.
"Wait…" it suddenly came to my mind, "…was it that tiger Bill who comes to your birthday party every year?"
My dad now put the plates back down onto the table and covered his face with his hands while shaking his head in slight disbelief.
My mom was still laughing her ass off and even Haru couldn´t hide a little smirk. There wasn't much doubt I was correct with my guess.
I never thought my dad actually was this much of a badass, but I found it kinda cool that it was actually true. There was a savage side to him as well, no matter how much he tried to hide it with humbleness most of the time.
"…oh, but your dad is good at fighting when it really matters." Juno continued with the earlier topic after she had calmed herself down a little from all the laughing, "Maybe he can show you a few tricks if you ever need to defend yourself."
"Yeah, right," I chuckled, "Because he beats up people in movies?"
He just remained smiling about that comment in amusement. He never was one to brag, but somehow, I had the feeling there was something he didn't really want to tell me about here as well. He seemed a little uncomfortable with that topic for some reason.
"Getting into a fight is never a good idea" he said slowly, now picking up the plates again, "Unless it's really necessary."
With that he was on his way into the kitchen again, not to be stopped anymore this time. This topic seemed to be over with that.
"…alright" I said, getting up from my chair as well now as I really wanted to get down towards the gym now.
"Can you please help us with the dishes quickly?" Haru stopped with a little smile, pointing at the table, "We did all the cooking already."
I could never say no to her when she asked me to help her. It probably would be different if mom or dad had asked, but when aunt Haru had a request, I wanted to help her, no matter what it was.
After everything was stored in the dishwasher and I had made my way down towards the gym-room, I finally had a moment all to myself.
I circled through all the different machines there were, taking a closer look at all the different stickers that had been applied by the manufacturers. There were little texts explaining which movements trained which muscles and how one should position themselves. It wasn't that complicated really, but the effect showed itself pretty soon.
Half an hour later everything hurt, but I also noticed that it already made somewhat of a noticeable difference. I pulled my t-shirt over my head and looked at my upper body in one of the big mirrors.
Pulling in my stomach and flexing all my muscles, looking at it from the right angle, I thought it didn't even look too different from my fitness-obsessed roommate.
"Just you watch, fox boy" I thought to myself, "You're not that far ahead."
Then I suddenly heard footsteps coming down the stairs. I managed to put my t-shirt back on just in time before she came in.
"How's it going, baby boy?" Haru asked with a little smile.
"I think it's pretty good. But everything hurts now…" I explained, "And could you stop calling me that?"
She just smiled even more about that request.
"I was just about to go home. Your parents already went to bed as it seemed, would you join me by the pool for a quick talk?"
"Huh?" I asked in slight confusion. She didn't even wait for my answer and already made her way back up the stairs again, "…yeah, I´ll be up in a minute!"
POV Leon (By RedLiteAlexi)
I was pretty sure mom and dad had retired to their bedroom this early for a reason. I think they were trying to give us some space so we could talk. I was thankful for that, even though I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to say. I stepped out of the house and stepped on cold concrete. Before me was the white rabbit, sitting on the edge of the swimming pool. The motion light activated and my presence was revealed. She looked over her shoulder at me. I saw that she was dangling her feet over the edge, lightly in the water.
"Geez you're quiet." She said with a light giggle.
"I guess I don't tend to draw attention to myself." I replied.
"Says the boy who swept the drama club off their feet and snatched the lead role." She said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. I was immediately reminded why I loved this rabbit. Her ability to sidestep manusha and get to the core.
"The group is pretty amateur, honestly I just happened to have a little bit of self-confidence and mostly just mimicked my dad's basic day one acting advice."
"Hehe, just like a little Legoshi. You actually remind me a lot of your dad." She said, with a grin.
"That's what people who don't know me say."
"Well, the difference is that you remind me of your dad the first year I knew him. Before his acting and actions made him famous. He was very different. Super insecure and lost. Not really happy to be honest."
"And I remind you of that?" I said.
"You remind me of him before he found his way. Before he allowed himself to be who he wanted to be and love himself. A very loving wolf and a good friend. I think once he was more comfortable showing others that part of him, it made them look at him as someone who they wanted to love as well." She said,
"Tune down the hallmark movie crap." I laughed.
She lightly snickered. "Sure that's cheesy, but I do believe it. He's genuinely kind, makes mistakes and learns from them, not afraid to be scary when he has to be. And people love him for that."
"So you think I'd be happier if I behaved like that as well?" She looked away to the pool's reflection and gently stirred it with her foot.
"I've always missed this pool. I remember when we lived in the loft that the mob bought your dad. It was three bedrooms and still felt small with all of us living there. There was a lot of love in that house. I'm honored that I got to live with you and see you grow in your first years of life. I think about those a lot and how special those are to me."
She looked saddened in her soft smile.
"So…why did you leave?" I asked. There wasn't any delicate way to approach this.
"Because I wasn't sure that it was what I wanted." She said, "You and your parents are the most important animals in my life, but the things I want are also valuable to me. It's different for your mom and dad. They are your parents and in the eyes of the world. No one questions their picturesque relationship. But I'm always seen as a guest. Someone outside their family and hovering near it."
"Screw them though." I said, "They don't know anything about you and our family's dynamics." I said angrily. "You abandoned us because you cared what others thought of you?" I said with more vitriol than I intended.
Haru looked at me rather defensively. "It's not just that! It made me realize that I wanted to pursue my own dreams as well. And I would never abandon you! There wasn't a day that went by where I didn't think of you wolves. I would have been there if anything happened and I was tempted to throw everything away because I missed you."
She took a deep breath before she continued.
"…you of all people should understand what it's like to want something that is unambiguously yours. I always wanted a flower nursery but I wanted to follow that dream on my own terms and when others looked at me, I wanted them to see more than Legoshi. I wanted to take a risk and if I failed, I at least failed because of myself."
I now finally understood her point in regards to the drama club. "You're… also talking about me, aren't you?" I asked. She wiped a small tear and then held my hand. Her little white hand is mostly wrapping around my thumb.
"You are not your father, and no matter how many people want you to be him. You do not have to be." She said,
"So you think I should quit the drama club?" I asked.
"Absolutely not!" she shook her head, "I want you to try things, I want you to succeed and fail because that is better than just existing and being mopey."
She now looked me right in the eyes again.
"…and I admit, I think your poor attitude is partly my fault. I should have told you how I felt long ago. And for that I am so sorry."
I exhaled slowly and pulled my thumb free of her grasp. I reached over and held her in a close embrace to my side. She smiled and I felt the warm fluff of her body.
"I love your mom and dad but I don't think they understand you like I do. And while I would have always been there to talk. I should have been around when you needed someone to listen to you. I won't make that mistake again.
"So…are you coming to move back in with us?" I asked.
"Well…I'm sorry but I'm not quite sure about that." She said, "I don't think I'm certain that I want to give up the new life I've made for myself. But I will balance those two parts of who I am more responsibly. You'll definitely see me more and I'll be there to listen to you."
My tail wagged a little. It felt nice to hear those words. "But you have to promise me… you'll make an effort to take risks and get out of your comfort zone." She said,
I sighed. "Fine."
"Not fine, say yes Haru." She giggled.
I blushed and hugged her.
"Try and be more friendly because you have a really nice little smile and you look very cute when you're happy."
That comment actually made me smile even a little more.
"As for the drama club, I think there's a lot of pressure on you to be this spitting image of your father. And I want you to try your very best in the club. But even if you are successful, all I ask is that you do it because it's what you truly want."
"Okay Haru."
There was a moment of silence while I thought of something to switch the topic after all this deep talk.
"Are you coming to dad's belated birthday party on Saturday?" I asked.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world. You should bring a friend. I'd love to meet one of them. See how much trouble you're getting into." She chuckled.
I tried my best to hide a little smile about that comment. That wish of hers might not be that unrealistic, but I didn't want to get into detail about that right now, so I decided to switch the topic to something different.
"Hehe speaking of trouble, am I supposed to believe you going to dinner with my parents was just a simple reunion dinner. Just some innocent fun?" I smirked.
It was now Haru's turn to blush. It was not like she could deny it.
"Mmmm…good night, Leon." She blurted.
Gonna get wild soon. Hope you´ll stay tuned ;)
Have a nice day, stay safe and healthy!
~furr