It was nearly a month after Trevor was suspended from Drama Club. In only a few more days he would be able to return. However, preparations for the play have been more difficult without him. And the costumes looked more shabby than they usually did. Olivia was trying her best to fill Trevor's shoes, but it was clear sewing wasn't her strong suit.

Lee was rereading the script. It had been modified in many ways. But the strangest thing was the villain. The main antagonist, played by Ceci, was an ugly, bigoted, old hag that's resentful that she never found someone to love because of how cold-hearted she is. It was clear this was a thinly veiled attack on Meredith. But Lee wasn't sure how to feel about it. As much as he agrees with it, it also seems somewhat petty.

Then again, this is Drama Club. And the friction between the sheep and cat was certainly drama.

Lee glanced over at Jolene, who was smiling while talking with Jiro. The sheep was a very sweet woman who seemed to have a lot of patience. Perhaps this is on Meredith for managing to anger someone so composed and kindly. Yet, Lee wondered if he was a hypocrite in this regard. He would be absolutely furious if Meredith did a play where the villain was trans just to get back at Jolene.

He sighed. It's pointless. Even if he had a serious talk with Jolene about this script, it's far too late to change it.

" EEEEKKK!"

CRASH!

The entire club heard a scream and a loud crash from the storage room.

Someone inside started sobbing and sounded like they were in a lot of pain. "S-somebody! Please! Help!"

The chimera sprinted into the storage room towards whoever was crying out for help. One of the shelves had fallen over again. But now, Ceci was on the floor, crying while trying to lift it off of her right leg.

"L-Lee-kun... H-help... I-it hurts…"

The chimera grabbed the shelf and put it back up the way it was. He winced as he looked at the cheetah's leg. There was a bruised line on her ankle, and a deep, bleeding gash on her leg.

Jolene came running in with a very concerned expression. "Oh my God! Ceci-chan, what happened?"

Ceci sniffled. "I-I was just trying to grab a p-prop from the top shelf and it f-fell on me…"

The sheep examined the wound. "Oh, dear. We need to get you to the nurse."

Fen walked over and tried to help the injured feline to her feet. However, when she put her weight on the injured foot, she yelped in pain and collapsed again.

Jolene shook her head. "She's not going to be able to walk on that, Fen-kun. Please, carry her to the nurse's office."

The panther picked the cheetah up and bride-carried her out of the storage room and out the doors of the practice building. "It's okay, Ceci-chan... You'll be okay."

The doors shut behind him. Jolene sighed. "Poor girl." She turned to face the rest of the club. "Well, I doubt that will be healed up before the play. We'll have to give a last-minute cram session to someone."

She looked around. "We need a female member to play the role of the villain."

Lee thought about this. All of the female members of the club were either already performing, or occupied with another vital role.

Jolene sighed. "Looks like we only have one option."

The sheep stared at Olivia. And soon, the entire club was looking at the lab.

Olivia started to sweat profusely. "I-I umm…"

Esther got between the club and Olivia, waving her hands around. "Nuh-uh! No way! You're notmaking her do this!"

Jolene crossed her arms and looked contemplative. "I'm not sure who we can get then… There's nobody else that's a viable option."

Olivia gulped and walked past Esther. "I-I'll do it."

The white tiger looked shocked. "Uhh… Do you know what you're even saying right now?"

The lab nodded. "You said I need to get over my anxiety. This is what I'm here for, right?"

Esther didn't look remotely confident. "That's waytoo fast though."

Olivia looked concerned. "But nobody else canright now. Either I do it or we have no play at all."

The white tiger was at a loss for words. "I- But-" Esther looked utterly defeated. "I-if you're sure."

The lab hugged her girlfriend. "I'll do my best."

Jolene sighed and grabbed a script, handing it to Olivia. "Here. You have to memorize the highlighted lines. You won't be able to read it during the play."

Olivia nodded and started reading through the script. However, she was clearly intimidated by how many lines the character had.

Club came to an end, and most of the members had gone. Ibuki and Jolene stayed behind to pick up everything that fell off the shelf. As Ibuki put back the final fallen prop, he noticed that the sheep had a melancholy expression.

"Is everything okay, Jo-chan?"

She shook her head. "What Liv-chan is going through is my fault." The sheep lifted her glasses and rubbed the bridge between her eyes. "The villain was originally male, and I rewrote it into a female character."

Ibuki shrugged. "Just write him back."

She sighed. "I'd have to change way too many lines at this point. Then mostof the actors would be clueless instead of just one." The sheep chuckled wryly. "I underestimated the importance of changing someone's gender. How's that for irony?"

The deer-wolf gave her a stern look. "You changed the character to get back at Meredith, didn't you? That's who the villain is."

Jolene nodded sadly. "I'm guessing you're disappointed in me."

Ibuki glared. "Yes, Jo-chan. I'm verydisappointed. I really thought you would know better, and you let me down."

The sheep bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Ibuki-sama."

The deer-wolf scoffed. "You're apologizing to the wrong person. I don't think I need to tell you who you shouldapologize to. Because now she has to bear a heavy burden because youdecided to be petty and childish."

Jolene's expression became more and more sorrowful and ashamed as the chimera tore into her.

Ibuki sighed. "I've seen the consequences of being childish and vindictive myself. I'm very lucky that Lee decided to forgive me."

He walked over to the sheep and got on one knee so he could look her in the eye. "You're a very kind and intelligent person, Jo-chan. I'm only disappointed because I know you're better than this. You just need to take responsibility. I know you can."

Jolene nodded, her shame replaced with determination. "Yes, Ibuki-sama!"

The deer-wolf smiled. "There's the Jo-chan I know." He stood up. "Let's get going."

The two started leaving. Jolene was about to put on her pink coat, which she left on a chair. However, Ibuki grabbed her hand and stopped her. "Wait."

The sheep gave him a confused look as the deer-wolf sniffed at the coat. He opened one of the pockets and reached in, pulling out a half-empty pack of Paruboro cigarettes.

Jolene gasped. "I-I wait- I-Ibuki-sama! That's not mine! I swear! I've never seen those before!"

Ibuki held up a hand at the sheep. "I know you don't smoke." He set the box aside and sniffed the coat. "I only smell tobacco coming from the box. If you were a smoker, this jacket would reekof it."

He gave her a serious look. "Smoking on campus is a serious violation of the rules. What does that tell you?"

The sheep's eyes widened. "No… You don't think…"

The deer-wolf nodded. "Someone planted this to get you fired."

Jolene's expression turned from shock to fury. "Her…"

Ibuki took a deeper sniff of the coat. "I smell something else." He sniffed harder and looked all over the coat. "It's faint but… I smell blood."

The sheep looked deeply baffled. "But… How? Who's blood?"

Ibuki handed the coat back to Jolene. "No clue. I'll have to see what I can find out."

As Esther and Olivia walked back to their dorms, the white tiger was trying to figure out what to say. She wasn't remotely comfortable with Olivia going through with this. As much as she wanted to be confident in her girlfriend, she had strong doubts that the lab could act and avoid stage fright.

Olivia looked up at Esther. "I can tell you're worried. I'mscared too."

The tiger sighed. "I… I really don't want you to be embarrassed if something goes wrong."

The lab nodded. "It's… intimidating. I'm more than a little frightened. But I don't really have a choice."

Esther had an incredibly nervous look. "I-I'm sure you'll do great!"

Olivia glared, which made the tiger squirm. "You should know better than to lie to me. I know that you have doubts. So just be honest with me."

The tiger gulped. "Y-yeah. Sorry." Esther looked somewhat ashamed. "Man. I shouldn't have talked you into joining the club."

The lab shook her head. "You'd still probably be down an actor. Sadly, we don't always get to pick which problem is thrust upon us." She smiled and pinched Esther's cheek. "And if I'm going to be in the same club as my girlfriend, I should throw my weight around."

Esther pulled Olivia's hand off of her face and held it in both of hers, looking her girlfriend in the eye. "I know things have been rough. That garden meant the world to you. But I just wanna see you be happy. I didn't want this club to be a new source of stress."

Olivia nodded. "I know. But you can't always avoid stressful situations. It's a fact of life. No matter what you do, it's impossible for me to be happy all the time. We all have to deal with turmoil in one way or another."

The tiger sighed and looked away sadly. "Yeah…"

The lab smiled and kissed her girlfriend on the lips. Esther hugged her tightly.

Lee was walking through the hallway back to his dorm. But he stopped, wondering if maybe Trevor was at Tem's memorial. He made another turn and found his hypothesis was correct. Lee wondered how long he had been praying.

The chimera approached and Trevor stood up to face him.

The bear smiled. "It's good to see you, Lee-kun."

Lee nodded. "Your suspension ends in a few days. I'm excited to see you back."

Trevor looked remorseful. "I guess. Honestly, I don't know if I want to keep going to Drama Club."

The chimera looked concerned. "Is everything okay?"

The ursine sighed. "I've been thinking about dropping out of school and just helping Mama out around the shop. It doesn't seem like people here like me anyway. And I worry about her a lot. She lives in the bad part of the city."

"I see. Sorry to hear that. I'm guessing she's not in a good financial situation."

Trevor nodded. "She's been in debt for a long time. She couldn't get a loan anywhere, so she had to go through loan sharks." The bear sneered contemptuously. "He was supposed to be helping her. But he just abandoned us."

"Why did he do that?"

"No idea. That guy has always had a few screws loose. It's impossible to ever know what he's thinking." Trevor growled. "It was hisidea to send me to this school. The same place he murdered his best friend."

The ursine sighed. "I know the story about Louis the red deer bringing him down wasn't true. It was your papa that did it."

Lee nodded. "Dad's only talked about it a few times."

Trevor looked sad. "Sometimes, when I can't sleep, I just stare at the ceiling and wish that Legosi-san killed him."

The chimera shook his head. "You wouldn't exist then."

The bear snarled. "Good. I'd rather not exist than be hischild." He smiled wryly. "You're lucky. Your papa is a hero, not a monster. I wish I had such a great man as my papa. Instead, I've got his blood in my veins. It makes me feel dirty."

Lee shook his head. "You can't help how you were born, Trevor-senpai. I can't control being a hybrid, Esther-chan can't help that she's a white tiger, there's nothing you can do. I know you'd never eat someone. I knowyou're not like your dad. And people in Drama Club really like you. So stop blaming yourself for existing."

Trevor sighed. "Lee-kun, look-"

"Trevor-san!"

A female ferret came running up to the bear. Lee recognized her as that lady that separated Viola and Sebastian.

She caught her breath. "Trevor-san, you need to come with me. Your mother is in the hospital. She's been shot."

The bear's eyes widened and a look of horror crossed his face.

The ferret started running, and Trevor followed after her without a word.

Lee stood there looking very concerned. He had a really bad feeling.