Hey guys, how are things?
Sorry for the long wait again, hope it was worth it ;)
Before you read, I quickly want to mention my Discord-Server, where you get to read the story before it´s released, discuss smut, memes, art and much more with us or just have a good time with friendly people. Just add me (Furrwolf#8163) and I´ll personally invite you to the server!
Also I want to mention the debut Zootopia-story of one of our lovely members, which got me hooked right from the start. He goes by the name ferofox and his story is called "Worlds collide". (It´s on AO3 however, not here) It would mean the world to me if you gave him a chance and showed him some love in the comments. Or on Discord ;)
Big thanks to MrShurukan and the boys from Discord for helping me with the correction!
Now, without further ado, Chapter 14! Hope you enjoy.
Beastars – Into the spotlight
Chapter 14 – A glimpse of happiness
POV Legoshi
"Can I talk to you about something…personal…for a moment?" he suddenly asked me, just as the hospital finally came in sight.
I was a little confused he asked that now, because we´ve been talking about nothing but personal stuff during the entire train-ride already, but I nodded nevertheless.
We had mostly discussed what had happened yesterday of course, just like the whole school was talking about it, but it seemed like he wanted to put that topic aside for a moment as well now.
"…after we did that photo-shooting with Dom on Saturday…" he began carefully, "…I was beginning to think that he is…you know…in love with me…"
"What, really?" I asked with a chuckle. He seemed a bit surprised that I was rather amused than shocked about it.
"I think so…but I´m really not quite sure how to deal with it…you know…"
I nodded understandingly.
"…I have no personal problem with him…and I do feel kind of…honoured? …but I´m just not into guys, and I don't know how I should tell him that exactly…"
"You know…it´s funny you say that…" he began with a little chuckle, "I was in just the same situation yesterday."
"You were?" he asked in surprise.
"The fox who saved us from the baking soda in the grape juice…"
"What? Really?" he chuckled, "Sebastian confessed to you?"
"Well…sort of…" I chuckled with a little nod, "…but I think he was a little overwhelmed by everything that has happened…"
"Overwhelmed? What did that have to do with him?"
"Bill beat him up the day before that…" I sighed, "…for telling us about the baking soda…"
"What?!"
He now stopped on the sidewalk for a moment.
"Yeah…" I sighed, turning towards him, "…and I promised to protect him…and…well…end this once and for all…"
Aoba just shook his head in pure disbelief about what he heard. "Just what happened to him?" he wondered lowly, "Bill wasn´t like that earlier…"
"I know" I sighed, "…but I have no idea how to fix all this either…"
"What did you tell Sebastian yesterday?"
"I…" I chuckled, "I told him I had already forgiven him and he didn´t have to suck it up to me any longer…"
"…I´d be scared of Bill as well to be honest…" he said, now getting back on his way again, "…makes sense he comes to you for help."
"Yeah…" I agreed, "…but do I really look like I would just help him in exchange for affection or even sexual favours?"
"What?!" he asked in amusement, "Really?"
"I´m not quite sure if he actually meant it like that…" I said, shrugging my shoulders, "…but I think his wording was quite obvious…"
"You should take it as a compliment" he grinned.
I just nodded with a little smile.
"Anyway…" he changed the topic now, "…I´m not even sure anymore if I want to visit him at all."
"Come on…" I said, "…he´s been your best friend for years…"
"It really disgusts me that he used his advantage of size to beat up and injure a little fox…"
"He went down a wrong path a little…" I explained with a bit of hope in my voice, "…but I think here is where you need to help him the most…"
"But how?" he asked, now stopping again just before we reached the entrance.
"Just tell him what you just told me. Tell him honestly what you feel about this. He won´t listen to me, but he surely will listen to a good old friend…"
It didn´t seem like he was entirely convinced by that suggestion yet, but I wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.
When we went into the hospital and asked for directions, we found out that Bill and Juno both had a room on the third level of the building, so we got into the elevator right away.
"I´m really not sure I even want to see him" he said once again, sounding really serious about it.
I still was sure they´d had a lot to talk about though, and I didn´t want him to have come all this way for nothing.
"Let me talk to him first" I said, "You can wait outside and listen if you want…" I suggested.
He seemed to like that idea a little more.
"Just join us when you feel like it" I told him as we went through the hallway.
"Okay…" he sighed, as I laid my hand onto the door-handle of Bill´s room.
I gave him one more encouraging little smile, then I went in.
POV Bill
Finally, something happened. The door was being opened carefully, and just by the wave of energy that went through the room, before I even saw him, I knew who it was.
I turned my gaze towards him nevertheless. He had a bouquet of flowers with him, but he wasn´t holding them it in a way like he wanted to present them to me. It´s more likely he brought them for Juno.
"Would have been quite weird anyway."
Quietly and ever so gently, he closed the door behind him and looked at me with a regretful and honest little smile.
"Hey Bill" he said lowly, "How are you?"
"Did you steal those flowers from the gardening girl?" I asked with a weak little chuckle, "…that´s very kind of you, but it wouldn't have been necessary…"
He still didn´t look like he was here to joke around though.
"Her name is Haru, and you know that…" he sighed, shaking his head a little, "…and those flowers are not for you."
"Right…" I said, nodding understandingly, "…Juliet is here as well."
"I came to say sorry" he got to the point straight away, "I didn´t want to hurt you like that…"
I just nodded slowly. I knew that he never wanted that, but I also knew that he probably underestimated his strength once again. He was a beast, there was no doubt about it. Seeing him being this honest and regretful made me feel the same way right now though.
"I didn´t want to get Juno poisoned either. When Louis told me about it I thought it was a good idea, but I underestimated what that stuff really does."
"What have you drugged yourself with yesterday?" he wanted to know.
"What do you mean?"
"You seemed full of adrenaline. I got the impression you didn´t have yourself under control anymore at all…"
He stared me right in the eyes while asking that question, and I just couldn't help myself and look away at some point. He knew he had a point asking that, and he wouldn´t let me get away from it.
"…I had a few drops of rabbit blood" I confessed lowly, "Should be quite obvious, no?"
He just shook his head with a little sigh.
"Look…" I said, "…Legoshi. I´m sorry. I really mean it. This was the last time I´ve caused you any trouble. You´re stronger than me, you´ve proven that time and time again. And I´ve realized now how much of an idiot I really was."
He kept on looking me right in the eyes with an unsure expression. I sadly couldn´t even blame him for not trusting me.
"I´m done with all this anyway…" he said now, "…I´m leaving the drama-club as well. I´m done with all this…well…drama."
"What?!" I asked in real surprise, "You can´t leave those guys! You´re great on stage!"
That statement of mine had him really surprised for a moment as it seemed. But I wanted to get that off my chest as well, ever since I´ve seen him perform as Volpone. He was just awesome, there was no point in denying it.
"…I hadn't been expecting you do say that…" he chuckled as his gaze finally lightened up a little, "…but I think they´ll cope without me just fine. They´re all good on stage…"
"They are good, but you´re just phenomenal! Honestly, you as Volpone was just the best thing ever. I could never have done it like you, and I finally realized it."
"You cannot say that without having tried it…" he disagreed, "…and I couldn´t have done it like that without all the other guys either. They are a great team."
"They´d be completely lost without you" I corrected with a dry little chuckle. It was just the truth. I knew that, everybody else knew that and he knew that as well. He was just too humble once again.
"That´s not true" he said, still shaking his head with a little sigh, "…and they also have Aoba."
"…Aoba did really good too…" I admitted, "…but I bet you any money he wouldn´t want to continue without you either."
"He´s at least as good as me" he sighed, apparently still convinced of that, "…and he has a great team behind him."
Just in that moment, the door to my room got opened again.
"I´m not as good as you…" he said lowly, before entering the room slowly, "…not even close…and you know that just as well as us. Please stop pretending not to know about that, Legoshi."
That statement from Aoba really shocked him now.
But Aoba never was one to talk around the truth. I knew he would back me up on this.
"…but…you were great as Mosca!" he said, "…don't tell me you…"
"I couldn´t and never would want to perform anything without you…" he said, closing the door behind him carefully, "…please don't tell me you´re serious about leaving the drama-club! They´d all throw in the towel."
"Told you" I chuckled at the wolf, as the bald eagle came a few steps closer to my bed.
"…I think I´ve caused enough trouble at this school" Legoshi told us lowly, "…I want my old life back, I don't want to be looked at anymore."
"Legoshi" Aoba told him, "This is what you are born to do. The people love you on stage. The drama-club adores you for everything you´ve done. You can´t just leave us alone like that…"
"They should give others the chance to shine as well" he said, still shaking his head and getting back from my bed now slowly but surely, "…and we´ll graduate high school someday anyway."
It seemed like he wanted to get out of this conversation as quickly as possible.
"You mean before you go to a professional acting-school and-"
"Let´s talk this over later, okay?" he asked, already reaching for the door-handle, "I go find Juno now. See you later…"
"Okay…" Aoba sighed lowly.
"Hope you get better soon" Legoshi told me for the farewell, waving me shortly.
I just nodded with a forced little smirk, then he closed the door behind him and left me alone with Aoba.
Now I knew the inevitable was about to go down on me now, but I wasn't even physically able to stop him this time. It was not like I haven't earned it anyway.
"This is some fucked-up shit, Bill" he told me coldly.
"I know…" I sighed, "…I didn´t want it to end like that either…"
"You didn´t?" he asked sceptically.
"I didn´t want to do all that, I just had this rage and the crave for vengeance all over sudden. And I thought Legoshi had been drinking the venom…"
"He had drunken it" Aoba sighed, "But he´s not just a wolf but also a little bit Komodo dragon."
"What, are you serious!?"
"I haven't asked him personally, but the whole school is talking about that. It worked on Juno as I´m sure you know…but Legoshi just wrecked you with one single punch to the face. I´m not quite sure if you noticed…"
"Funny. Really funny…"
"No, not at all" he said coldly, "…That wolf gave us so much. He made me realize how much fun I have being on stage, he boosted the entire drama-club onto a professional level…"
"Come on" I grinned, "You don't really believe he´s going to quit the drama-club, do you?"
"I´ve rarely seen him lying before" he said, "Never to be precise."
"He´s the best freaking actor I´ve ever seen. He delivers so many layers of emotions, not even Louis could live with that."
"So you finally see that too?"
"I´ve seen your premiere of Volpone" I confessed, "And midway through I was questioning everything I was doing before. I regret the baking soda and I regret ever doubting the decision to give him the lead role. You guys were just awesome together."
That made him think for a really long moment. I knew he couldn't ignore a compliment like that completely.
"…but I don't understand why you had to mess that fox up like that?"
That on the other hand left me thinking for a little while. I knew he would be asking me this eventually, and I also knew that my honest answer wouldn't at all sound believable either.
"I had drunken a little too much…"
"You were drinking!?"
"Louis invited me to a little talk and offered me a few drinks…" I sighed, "I was stupid and I was frustrated, okay? You guys being loved by the entire school and all…and I was just the little asshole trying to mess everything up what you´ve worked for…"
That didn´t impress him in the slightest. He seemed to be genuinely pissed about that, but he would be if he just knew half the story.
"…and then that little prick of a fox came along, provoked me like crazy and I didn´t have myself under control anymore."
"Why would he provoke you?" he wanted to know, "I thought you planned the baking soda thing with him?"
"He warned Legoshi about it" I explained, "And then he must have thought that he would protect him from me…"
"He would have protected him if he was there…" he mentioned coldly, pointing at me in the hospital bed, "…and he has given you the payback for that."
"Yeah, yeah…" I sighed, "…I learned my lesson, trust me."
He still kept on shaking his head a little bit.
But then he finally took a deep breath and relaxed a little more.
"So…" he asked, now at least hinting a little bit of empathy, "When are you going to fix that thing with Sam?"
"Ha. Very funny."
"I´m serious" he said, now sounding very serious again though.
"Yeah, me too" I told him nevertheless, "Why would she ever want me back after all that?"
That actually made him speechless for a little moment. It appeared he didn´t even recognize how bad this really was.
"…do you really think she´ll ever forgive me for treating Legoshi like that? Do you really think she´ll ever stop dreaming about him after he fucked her like that?"
I couldn´t quite believe myself that I said that out loud, but it wasn´t like he didn´t know about that anyway. The entire school knew about it.
"…Legoshi is really sorry for that…" he said lowly after a really long moment of silence, "…he wanted to apologize for that… …and a good relationship is not just about the sex, is it?"
That was one of the things I´ve always found fascinating about him. He always kept his composure and stayed serious about delicate topics. He didn´t even try to mock me, he wanted to help me.
"Our relationship has always been toxic…" I sighed, "You know that. And the sex wasn´t enough for her either, most of the time anyway…"
He just nodded slowly, not really being able to argue about any of that either. I noticed that that really must have sounded weak and very poor out of my mouth.
"…I can understand her" I sighed now, "I didn´t treat her right either. It probably was her who pushed him into that. I can understand she was pissed."
"Legoshi wouldn´t do something like that."
"How do you want to know that?"
"I´ve spent a lot of time with him recently…training for the performance and so on..." he explained, "…he told me about the struggles he´s had with both Juno and the girl from the gardening club. I get the feeling that he´s still not entirely happy with how it is right now, but I can tell you for sure that there are a lot of things he really regrets doing. Among those things: accepting the vote for the role of Volpone, taking revenge on you for sleeping with Haru and beating you up so hard you´ve ended up in this hospital yesterday..."
"Thanks for reminding me" I sighed with an ironic smirk.
"Just saying" he said, "Don´t think that wolf wanted all that to happen…"
POV Legoshi
Just as I was about to reach the other end of the hallway, I suddenly got stopped by a deep but quite familiar, smoky voice.
"Hey kid" he greeted me, casually sitting in one of the plastic seats for the waiting guests, "Can I borrow you for a second?"
"Gouhin!" I greeted back in total surprise, not at all expecting to see him here of course. But I was glad to meet him again after all this time.
He nodded with a friendly smirk, standing up from his seat and coming towards me.
"I heard you´re making headlines again…" he chuckled, laying one of his heavy hands on my shoulder.
"Heh…yeah…" I said nervously.
"Come on, don't be so humble about it…" he grinned, "…I mean…a wolf saving a bunny from a clan of lions just to fool around with another wolf on stage? Quite a story to tell if you ask me…"
"It…it isn´t like…well, it´s still a little compli-"
"Anyway…" he waved it off with a little smirk, "I sure you´ll get that figured out eventually…"
"Y-yeah…I-"
"You´ve gotten stronger…" he pointed out now, examining my arms and my torso for a short moment, "…no wonder you can do pull-ups while acting with that energy…"
I had no idea why he was mentioning that right now, and where he knew all that from, but it was beginning to irritate me a little.
"Have you…have you been stalking me?" I asked him, trying to keep a bit of distance now.
"Oh, just a little…" he chuckled in amusement, "…but I am a big fan of stage plays as well you must know…it was more just by chance that I ended up watching a performance of the Cherryton-High…"
I nodded slowly.
"What are you doing here at the hospital today…" I asked him, skipping all that theatre stuff quickly.
"Well…" he said, beginning to walk down the hallway now, "…I´ve had a little talk with your principal yesterday…"
"What?!"
"Oh don't act so surprised now…" he chuckled, opening the door to a room suddenly, signalizing me to enter it with one of his arms, "…he had consulted me about you even before he nominated you for the Beastars…come on in, please, I promise this won´t take any longer than ten minutes…"
"…but…he has taken back that nomination yesterday…" I said, following him into the room, "…and the whole school is scared of me now anyway…"
"That´s not just a bad thing necessarily" he said, signalizing me to take a seat on the chair by the desk, "They´re not only scared of you, they also have a lot of respect of you. And that´s what you need as a Beastar as well-"
"I don't want to be a Beastar."
That seemed to confuse him for a moment. I was a little puzzled that the principal hadn´t told him about this as well.
"…I was fine with becoming an actor…" I explained, "…and I got used to being popular at school...but I never wanted to be a Beastar."
He nodded understandingly.
"Can you lift your t-shirt for a minute?" he asked while fiddling with something he had prepared on his desk.
I wasn´t quite sure why he needed to examine me now, but I did it anyway. I wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. So I put the bouquet of flowers I got for Juno onto his table carefully and pulled my T-Shirt over my head for him.
"Those bruises on your torso…" he said, "…they look like you didn´t get them too long ago…"
"Bill punched me a few times yesterday…" I sighed.
"Bill?"
"The Tiger in room 3.34…" I sighed, "…I thought you were talking to the principal?"
He nodded with a big grin now, "Ah yes…you mean the striped kitten you´ve completely wrecked yesterday?"
I nodded.
"I´ve gotten to know him as Tybalt…" he explained, still amused about this as it seemed, "…I thought that that role fit him well to be honest…"
"So he had been stalking me. He had seen Romeo and Juliet and Volpone. Why would he lie about that?"
"…Tybalt would be the type of guy who´d try to sabotage somebody with rabbit blood, Viagra or Komodo dragon venom" he added.
I couldn´t hide that I was a little shocked about that now.
"Wh-where do you know all that from?"
"I´ve been talking to him" he chuckled, as if it was totally obvious, "And have a guess who also lies in this hospital because she was poisoned with Komodo Dragon Venom…"
I just nodded slowly. He now picked up the blood pressure monitor he had laying on his desk and signalized me to present one of my arms to him.
"…I understand that it´s not easy for you right now" he said while fiddling around with the belt to make it fit on my upper arm, "…but I must honestly say: I agree with principal Gon, you would make a good Beastar after all."
I shook my head now, "…why does everybody keep saying that?"
The device started gripping around my arm even tighter now.
"There hasn´t been a better candidate in over ten years" he stated, "People look up to you for the person you are, you´re humble but not shy of conflict, you´re smart but no dick about it. Also: you´re really strong already for your age and I´ve seen you fight a clan of Lions with my own eyes! Tell me about anyone from your school delivering all those qualities, I´ll wait…"
POV Aoba
"…so…when are you getting out of here?" I asked him, as I made my way towards the door as well now slowly but surely. I didn´t want to keep the other waiting for too long either, and there was not a whole lot more to talk about anyways.
"It´s gonna be a little while" he sighed, "And it´s also gonna take a while until I can walk normally again."
I nodded understandingly. "I´ll try to visit you every once in a while."
"You mean when you´re not busy giving autographs?"
"Of course" I sighed with an ironic little smirk.
"Try to stay on the ground, will ya?" he asked for the farewell, acting with his arms like he had wings as well.
I nodded once more. "Gotta fly" I said before closing the door from the outside, "See you around."
I was kinda relieved now. That didn´t go as badly as I thought it would.
"At least he seems to be over it now. Maybe that finally taught him how to handle his ego."
I went down the hallway in search for Room 3.1 now, and as it was on the complete other end of the building, that was quite a walk as it turned out. But I found it eventually.
"Oh, hey Juno" I greeted her, as I carefully opened the door to her room.
"Aoba" she greeted me back happily, apparently really excited that she wasn´t alone anymore.
"Isn´t Legoshi here already?" I wondered.
"I haven´t seem him so far…" she said, shrugging her shoulders.
"That´s odd…" I said lowly, "He left Bill´s room a lot earlier than me…"
"Maybe he got lost in the hallways" she suggested, "…or maybe that panda guy found him!"
"Panda guy?"
"Yeah…" she said, "There was this old, buffed Panda doctor…I think he had something to do with Legoshi before…he talked to me and I believe to Bill as well already. He said he had a few questions."
That left the both of us thinking for a moment.
"Well…he´s not alone with that" I sighed, "I rarely understand anything that is going on right now…"
"Yeah, me neither…" she agreed, "…as if all this isn´t stressful enough for him yet…"
"He just told us he wants to quit the drama-club" I sighed, not being able to keep that in.
"What?!"
"He said he didn´t want all that grief anymore and that we´d be able to do this on our own anyway."
"I…I mean I can understand he didn´t have it easy…but…but he´s one of the most talented actors we´ve ever had in the drama-club…"
I just nodded in agreement. There was not much to argue about that.
"He can´t just leave us alone because of this bullshit with Bill!" she said, almost sounding a little ferocious now.
"We can´t force him to do anything" I sighed, "…but I´m pretty sure he just over-reacted a little bit…"
"Bill won´t be hindering him anymore…" she yelled in anger, "…trust me, I´ll take care of that! Legoshi needs to leave all that behind him…"
POV Legoshi
"…yes, I can leave that all behind me" I told him coldly, "…just why would nobody accept that!?"
"It would be a wasted chance…" he said, still being totally unimpressed, "…it´s as simple as that…and although you really are a talented actor, as a Beastar your influence and your career chances would be a lot bigger…"
"Since when is it their job to take care of my career? Why would he think I wanted to have a lot of influence?"
"Louis said he wanted to scare me away from becoming a Beastar…" I told him then, actually curious if he knew what the reason for that could have been.
"That does not wonder me…" he said, nodding with a little smirk.
"You know him?"
"The eighteen-year-old guy who kept the Shishigumi alive? Yeah, I know him."
I almost choked a little when I heard that.
"…but yeah, since you almost ended that clan all by yourself, it´s no wonder he wants to scare you away from it. That deer is scared of you in every way, Legoshi."
"Holy fuck. That makes so much sense right now! That´s why he tried poisoning me! That´s why he didn´t care about getting kicked off the school! … …but why would a herbivore want to lead a clan of lions? Influence? Manpower? Connections to the mayor?"
"I didn't do it all by myself" I told him, now more calmly, "You helped me."
"But you were the one who convinced me to help you. I would never even have dreamed about attacking the Shishigumi with just two people, but you didn't care about what I thought and just went for it" he explained, "You´re a good leader, Legoshi. You immediately gain respect by everybody you have to do with. You´ve handled everything thrown at you in a very impressive way. There is a reason they all want you as a Beastar!"
"I just wanted to save Haru from getting eaten! I didn´t know what I was doing!"
"I bet you´re not the only one who wanted to save her. But you were the one who actually did it. And just by the way helped the city arresting over twenty members of a highly illegal lion-clan" he explained in an over-exaggerated way.
I still didn´t find that too funny though. He talked about this like this was some regular stuff every kid in Highschool had to go through at some point. Like all that was totally normal.
"That´s why you came to me" I said lowly, now finally understanding it.
He nodded silently, but now with a serious expression again.
"Bill was just an excuse…"
"You´re a smart kid. I´ve told you that before, right?"
I nodded, still being in total disbelief about him being serious about all this though.
"I wish I could tell you something different…" he explained, "…but you´re tangled up by far too deep into this already. I´m sorry I have to tell it to you that way."
Again, I just nodded slowly.
"Sleep a night over it. Or two. …but please consider it once again. This city needs somebody like you as a Beastar. We all need somebody like you as a Beastar. I need somebody like you as a Beastar."
"Of course. He needs me. Right... …why would he need me to become a Beastar? He is a black-marked guard, why would he need- …shit, that makes sense as well… …just what the fuck is happening with my life?"
I didn´t really know what to think about anything right now. It seemed like there really wasn't a lot of other stuff to talk about either, so I just nodded once more, got up from my chair and grabbed the Bouquet of flowers I had gotten for Juno.
"You´re a good guy, Legoshi. I´ve seen it with my own eyes."
"You´re not the first one to tell me that" I sighed lowly, before I left the room, "And I think I´m beginning to see why. People are even more nice when they need something, aren't they?"
"It´s not easy to hide the truth…" he chuckled behind me.
"Is it not?" I asked with another little sigh, shaking my head slightly.
"Come on" he chuckled, "Save your acting for the stage..."
I just didn´t want to hear any more of this stuff right now. I didn't even want to think about it again. All I wanted to do right now was seeing Juno again. And helping Miguno with his concert. Living a normal life.
"See you around, Gouhin" I told him for the farewell, not wanting to get into this topic any deeper than we were already.
"See ya, kid!"
I closed the door behind me now, left him sitting there and went in search for Juno´s room right away.
POV Aoba
At first I wasn´t entirely sure how physically fit Juno was right now, but when Legoshi finally joined us in her room, she pretty much took off from her bed and landed on top of him in pure joy.
"H-hey…" he greeted her lowly but with a little smile, just managing to save his bouquet and not fall over because of her stormy assault.
"God I´m so glad to see you!" she said, "The last thing I remembered was you getting punched in the stomach and I was not able to help you!"
"I´m okay compared to you guys, trust me…" he said, "…at least physically."
"Oh, I´m not feeling too bad anymore either…" she waved it off, now a little less enthusiastic, "… but yeah, I can imagine there must be a lot on your mind as well right now."
He just nodded a little, but it seemed like he didn´t want to talk about all that yet once again.
"It´s nice you still brought me flowers though" she chuckled, trying to lift the mood a little.
"You like them?" he asked lowly.
"Of course I do" she said happily.
"I´m glad you´re doing better" he told her with a little smile, gently returning the kiss she gave him on the cheek.
I still couldn´t help but just stare at him. To see him still being so humble and caring after all that just gave me chills all over. Seeing that beast of a man like this, being this smooth and gentle, restrained and loving, it just convinced me yet once again: Bill just had earned it to receive that punishment. Legoshi was not a monster, to me he was still a hero. An idol, an inspiration, a complete mystery, but first and foremost: a hero.
After releasing him from the hug, she took a closer look at the flowers he brought her and smelled on them with great delight. I could tell how happy she was to finally not be alone here anymore.
"…the doctor said I might be able to get back to school this evening" she explained, "…she just wanted to do another quick blood-test or something like that…"
"Should we wait for you?" I suggested, as I wasn't in a rush to get back to the campus today either.
"Would be nice" she chuckled with a grateful smirk, "If you don't mind waiting a few minutes?"
I wasn´t quite so sure if it really would be just a few minutes in the end, hospitals usually let you wait quite a lot longer than they say they will, but even if so, I wanted to use that time to talk to Legoshi under four eyes once again. I had so many questions.
POV Jack
When I came back into the dorm this late afternoon, I first thought I was all alone, but then I suddenly noticed some pretty concerning noises from the bathroom. It sounded like somebody was crying lowly.
I went towards the door and listened through it carefully.
"Miguno?" I asked, as I believe it was his voice I heard.
He didn´t answer me, but since he hadn´t locked the door, I opened it very slowly nevertheless.
"Is everything alright?"
He was leaning over the toilet with his face and looked like he felt really miserable.
"Hey…" I asked the hyena lowly, "What´s wrong?"
Then I remembered the performance with his band that supposed to be this evening.
"I…I…" he whispered weakly, "I can´t do this…"
"But…" I stuttered, "…you´ve been anticipating about this performance ever since!"
"There is just too much pressure" he cried, "I don't want to mess this up…I don't want to let down the rest of the band…"
I patted his shoulders carefully.
"But…you would let them down the most when you´re not coming on stage with them" I told him, "You´re a team…they need you!"
"Jack…" he said lowly, "…I…"
"…what is it?" I wanted to know, "Talk to me, Miguno."
"…I don't want to be the loser of the school. With all of them being there tonight, especially Legoshi and half the drama-club…"
"Legoshi is the nicest guy of them all" I told him lowly, "And you know that…"
"…but…but the guys from our dorms will be there too. I don't want to disappoint them either…"
"How could any of us ever be disappointed in you?"
"Like…because I´m annoying you with my guitar practise and so on…"
"I don't find it annoying" I chuckled with an honest little smile, "I always kinda enjoy it…you´re good at it…"
He nodded a little, but something still seemed to bother him a little. Then it suddenly clicked in my head. It was about one single person, not about him messing something up.
"…it´s…it´s Durham, isn´t it?" I asked out of the first instinct that came to me.
"W-what?" he asked in surprise, looking me right in the eyes now, "W-where do you…I…I mean…I…"
"I just guessed it…" I said lowly, trying to calm him down and not make him feel weird about it, "…I guessed it from the way you were looking at him recently."
His gaze lowered a little once again now. It seemed like I couldn´t be that wrong with that guess.
"…uhm…" I said, trying to get rid of that awkward silence, "…do you…want to talk about it?"
"…I…" he sighed, hesitating for a really long moment, "…I know him since childhood…but I don't want to ruin our friendship because of this."
"But…what has that to do with your performance tonight" I wanted to know.
"I´ve written a song for him…" he confessed.
"Aww, what?!" I asked in real excitement, "That´s so awesome!"
"It´s our best song as well…" he confessed, "So I can´t get around to play it…I couldn't explain that to my band."
"Do they know it´s for him?"
"No. Nobody really knows. And nobody but him would understand it either…"
"You think he´s gonna notice?"
He nodded like there was not a single doubt about it.
Now I could understand his fear a little. Nobody could tell what Durham would really think about this. The Coyote never had been that easy to read, sadly. And Miguno could neither cancel the performance, nor tell Durham not to come to it.
"…it´s based on an insider from our childhood…" he explained lowly, "…It´s just a phrase we told each other when we were afraid of something…and I know it´s kinda childish today, and the song is about something completely different anyway…but just that one phrase…it really means something to me."
"Maybe it´ll be just a nice reminder for him as well…" I suggested.
"Yeah, maybe…" he said lowly, noticeably still really unsure about something, "…but…"
It seemed like there was more he really hesitated to talk about.
"…but?"
"You know…Durham and I…we have…you know, experimented with each other a few weeks ago…just so we knew what it would feel like, you know…"
I nodded understandingly, being strangely quiet right now one could say.
"…And I´m not sure if it would come across weird now to perform that song when he´s watching…"
"Was it…" I asked very lowly, "…was it his idea?"
"What?"
"To do…you know…experiments with each other…"
"Damn, why is it so tough for me to talk about that right now? It wasn´t like I hadn´t done something very similar as well not too long ago, and he wouldn´t find that topic weird anyway…"
"We were…we were watching porn together for quite a while already, like…when nobody else was in the dorm…"
I nodded once again.
"And then it just happened and I asked him if he wanted to try…you know…touching each other and so on…"
"I…I…" I stuttered, as I decided to tell him after much hesitation, "…I´ve had something quite similar as well not too long ago."
"What, really?" he asked, and that really made his ears perk up a little now. I knew telling him about this was the right thing to do in the end. This really seemed to boost his confidence a little.
"Yeah" I said with a little nod, "I was curious as well."
"Someone from our dorm?" he wanted to know.
"Yeah…" I said with a tiny smirk he didn´t see initially, "…with Durham…"
"What?!"
"No!" I said laughing, "I´m kidding! Don't worry…it was not Durham."
He noticeably relaxed a little now.
"Don't tell me Legoshi" he chuckled excitedly, as he finally got it figured out.
I just nodded with a little smirk.
"Wow" he chuckled.
I just shrugged my shoulders about it.
"So…you think that one could say this is normal at our age?"
"Probably" I said with a little smile and a shrug of my shoulders, "I…I mean, look at Legoshi and I now…"
"Yeah…"
I was glad he was a little more enthusiastic again.
"So…you think he might not find it weird I wrote a song for him?"
"I find it just totally awesome to be honest…" I told him with a little smile, "And…I mean…come on…you know him since childhood. He´ll understand."
"Thanks Jack" he said lowly, now finally getting up from the floor slowly.
I went a step closer towards him and hugged him gently. "Whatever happens tonight, we´ll be there for you!"
POV Aoba
We had stayed in Juno´s room for quite a little while until finally a doctor arrived. She then kindly asked us to leave the room for a few minutes, so we searched ourselves a spot in the hallway where we could wait for her.
"Bill has really changed" I straight away started the topic I wanted to talk to him about.
"Finally" he sighed with a little nod, "…it´s about time he woke up."
"It really is" I agreed with him, "…but it might have hit him harder than we thought…"
"You think" he asked with a concerned tone.
I nodded once again. "His self-esteem has really suffered as well" I mentioned lowly, "…he doesn´t even have the guts to talk to Sam anymore."
"What, really?" he asked in shock, "Why?"
"He thinks she´s still in love with you. He thinks he´s not worth anything to anybody anymore…"
"Oh no" he sighed lowly, sounding utterly ashamed about that, "I never wanted that to happen. I should have thought about the consequences of that!"
"Did Sam really enjoy it that much or was she just mad at Bill for being stupid?" I asked him carefully, not able to hide that I was really interested in that answer though. I wanted to know if that was true this time, I wouldn´t let him get away from it.
"She probably over-exaggerated a little" he told me with a little sigh, "...I can´t imagine that he was never able to satisfy her."
"It sounded to me like he thinks you´re…like a sex-god or something like that" I chuckled, ignoring his humbleness this time, "…it almost sounded like he would get aroused thinking about it…"
He now just shook his head with a little smirk. "Trust me…" he said, "…I´m pretty sure he would have not wanted to see that."
"Just stop pretending for once! You are a freaking beast, Legoshi! Accept it already!"
"I guess half the school would have wanted to see that" I told him with a dirty little grin, "…there are the wildest rumours about you and that encounter by the pool…you know…it might have a reason Bill is thinking like that…"
"Hey…" he suddenly said a little louder, obviously trying to change the topic quickly, "…are you coming to the concert tonight too?"
I couldn't help but grin widely. It seemed like the rumours couldn't be that wrong after all.
"I think you´re still way too humble about yourself, Legoshi."
"…a roommate of mine and his band are performing for the first time tonight" he kept on ignoring it, "…they´ve been practising for months, and I think they´re really good…"
"I won´t stop asking you about this until you tell me the truth" I grinned at him.
He looked at me for another moment, inhaling deeply, and then it finally seemed like he gave in.
"Goddammit Aoba" he muffled, "I´m a wolf. I was angry, I was a little confused and I really needed it. She wanted a beast, so she got one. I fucked her completely senseless two times in a row and then I pushed her into the pool when she tried to convince me that she fell I love with me."
"Wow."
"What?!" I chuckled, trying to keep my voice down, not being able to stop myself from laughing though.
"Is it that what you wanted to hear?" he asked with a slightly annoyed but also slightly amused little smirk.
"You really are full of surprises…"
"I wouldn´t have done it, had I known what that would do to Bill" he sighed, "But now it happened and I can´t change it anymore."
"To be quite honest…" I sighed, "Their relationship had always been quite toxic. I´m not even sure if either of them would want to get back together…"
"You just say that because you think the same as Bill right now" he sighed, shaking his head.
"I want to help him fix his life as well…" I told him about my intentions with all this, "…I´m just trying to find out how to do that…"
He nodded understandingly.
"What about you?" he now changed the topic yet once again, "You seem quite happy with your life right now…"
I nodded slowly. I was pretty sure he knew how I felt about our drama-club success, so there could be only one other reason why he asked that.
"My girlfriend doesn´t go to our school" I explained, "She lives in another city, so I can only see her on weekends…"
"Oh, I never knew you had somebody…" he said with a contented little smile.
"I don't want to share too much of my private life" I confessed, and in that very moment I understood why he really asked me about that.
He just looked at me for a really long moment now and his smirk widened a tiny little bit. He didn´t want to share everything as well, and that´s pretty much what I´ve been asking him to do earlier. What everybody, consistently, must be asking him to do these days.
"…of course I´m coming to the concert tonight" I changed the topic myself with a little smile now, "I´ve promised that to you on the way here already, haven't I?"
"Cool!" he said happily, "Yeah, I guess you have... …but you won´t regret it, I promise!"
"Didn´t you want to help them with the lights?" I asked him, now just remembering him talk about that.
It was quarter past five already, and the ride back to school was over half an hour as well.
"Right…" he agreed with a little nod, taking a look at the clock on the wall, "…I hope Juno gets released soon. It´s gotten late already…"
POV Miguno
I was so glad I opened up to Jack about this. He was just as sweet as ever, and I knew I could trust him to keep his mouth shut.
"…so…" I grinned, "…how did that happen between you and Legoshi?"
He sighed shortly, not really sure if he really wanted to tell me more about that, apparently, but when I smiled at him a little longer, he couldn´t hide a little chuckle about it either.
"At first I just needed a little hug" he explained, "…we both needed it… …and then we just talked about our lack of experience with that topic…and then…yeah…"
"What was it like?"
I somehow really enjoyed how uncomfortable he felt about this. It made me feel less weird about myself and boosted up my confidence even more.
"Well…interesting…" he thought loudly.
"Interesting?"
"It was worth the experience I guess…" he sighed, "…but a wolf up close is really scary, let me tell you!"
"I can imagine" I chuckled, "Especially Legoshi."
He just nodded a little.
"But god that sounds hot" I grinned.
He just shook his head with an ironic little sigh.
"…sorry."
"There is a reason why the girls keep talking about him…" he chuckled now, "…let´s put it that way."
"Oh, I know" I chuckled, "I watch him too when he leaves the bathroom after taking a shower."
That just left smiling a little once again.
"Guess you enjoy looking at your girlfriend more?" I asked with a chuckle.
"I guess I could enjoy looking at you and Durham as well…" he said with a little wink, "…but I just hope you´ll be happy in the end."
Just in that moment, the door to our dorm was being opened and Collot joined us.
"Hey guys" he greeted us excitedly, "What´s going on?"
"Miguno is getting ready for his performance tonight" Jack pointed out proudly.
"Sweet" Collot excitedly, "I can´t wait for it! If they all can play like that…this should be really awesome!"
Normal POV
"So…" the Siberian Tiger asked, "…what do you think, doc?"
"There are no physical issues…I believe you´ve noticed that yesterday…"
"I´ve seen the videos" he affirmed with a nod, "…but I wasn´t just talking physical. Do you think he understands how important this is?"
"I´m sure he understands…" the panda affirmed, "…but that does not mean he wants to do it. He wants to leave this all behind him. It just seems like he wants to apologize to Bill and get on with his life…"
"That Tiger would deserve to get kicked out of the school for what he did!" the principal enraged himself, "He knew about the Komodo Dragon Venom as well and he wanted to use it for his advantage!"
"He´s learned his lesson, believe me…" Gouhin assured, "…he´ll be tame as a lamb for quite a while now…that wolf made a little kitten out of him. I´ve heard him talk to Mosca in the hallway…"
"I don't care about the Tiger" the principal calmed himself down a little, "Even the Mayor wants Legoshi to become the next Beastar!"
"The issue with that is…" he sighed, "…the mayor is a lion. …I don't want to suggest there is a connection between the Mayor and Shishigumi, but Legoshi is smart enough to guess something like that as well."
"What about the Shishigumi?"
"Legoshi and I raided that clan when he saved that rabbit girl from getting eaten…" Gouhin told him in slight confusion. He didn´t understand how he couldn´t know about this.
"That was the Shishigumi?!" he principal asked in total shock now, "That kid wanted to attack the Shishigumi all on his own just like that? Even the police didn´t want to get involved with them!"
The panda just nodded silently, not able to hide a proud little smirk though.
"And he says he doesn´t want to become a Beastar?!" the siberian tiger wanted to know, "…how is that possible?"
"He just wanted to save the girl´s life" Gouhin explained, "He never wanted to be a hero. That´s what he told me."
Gon nodded slowly, now appearing to have settled down from his rage once again.
"Damn that wolf is good at acting…"
The panda nodded again, "…but he doesn´t even want to accept that as it seems. He just wants to be a regular student again. He was pretty clear about that."
"That is unacceptable…" the principal said, shaking his head in pure disbelief yet once again, "We can´t waste this chance. We need to do something."
POV Juno
"Can I…" I asked him lowly, as we went through the hallway, "…can I stay the night in your dorm? I don't want to answer five million questions to my dormmates…"
"I mean…" he chuckled with an understanding and amused little grin, "…yeah, if you want to. I surely wouldn't mind…" he added sheepishly.
I was just so happy to have him by my side again. I felt so lonely in that hospital room last night.
"I promised to help Miguno with his concert though, might get late tonight…"
"I´d love to join you there…" I told him right away, "I could use a little distraction from all this…"
"I think he´ll be very happy to hear that" he told me with a contented little smirk, just as we reached the door to his dorm.
He opened it with his key and I followed him into the room, closing the door behind us.
"Legoshi!" Jack greeted us excitedly, "Juno! I´m so glad you´re better now!"
He wasn´t alone here, Anita was sitting on his bed besides him and two more of his roommates, Miguno and Collot, where here as well.
"Thanks" I told him happily, waving them shortly, "I´m so glad to see you guys!"
"Juno!" Anita greeted me as well, immediately getting off the bed to hug me tightly, "I´m so glad you´re alright!"
"Hey guys" Legoshi greeted them lowly, obviously excited to see them as well, "What´s up?"
This dorm was just so wholesome. I really enjoyed being here in the meanwhile. They lifted my spirit every time, in the very first moment already.
"The cutest couple of this school is back, that´s what´s up!" Anita chuckled.
"…and the hottest one…" Jack agreed.
I just loved those two. They were honest and sweet and not shy of being themselves. And they were really cute together.
"Talk amongst yourselves" Legoshi chuckled with a little wink.
"I was just about to say it" Miguno mentioned in amusement.
The spotted hyena had a guitar in his hands but was just about to put it back into its case.
"Miguno" Legoshi asked him, not wanting to lose any more time apparently, "Are you ready for your big performance?"
"…sort of…" he said, looking a little concerned though.
"Scared of the big stage?" I asked with a little chuckle.
"N-no, it´s not that…" he waved it off, "…I´m just scared of this one song I´ve wrote for somebody who´s very special to me."
That immediately made us all smile a little.
"Awww…" I chuckled.
The Hyena just looked so cute while confessing that.
He just nodded with a little smile, but it didn´t seem like he wanted to tell us more about that.
"Will she be at the concert as well?" Anita wanted to know, clearly with some excitement in her voice as well.
That made him hesitate for a short moment for some reason.
"He" Miguno said lowly, nodding a little, "…yes, he´ll be there too."
That left all of us a little dumbfounded for a moment. All of us but Jack as it seemed, because he couldn´t hide a little smile right from the start.
"Wow" Legoshi then said carefully, "That´s very cool."
"You think?" Miguno asked nervously.
"I ´d be honoured if somebody wrote a song for me" he explained, "No matter who it was."
"Yeah, me too" Jack agreed, "…and since you said nobody but him will notice that that song is for him anyway..."
"But…" he said lowly, actually on the verge of tears now, "…but what if he hates me afterwards?"
Legoshi wordlessly went towards him and hugged him gently.
"Durham might seem tough on the outside" he said lowly, "…but he´s actually quite fragile on the inside. He needs you more than anybody else…"
"W-what?" the Hyena asked in surprise.
"W-where do you know that from?" Jack wanted to know as well.
Legoshi couldn´t help but just chuckle a little at that question. "…it seems like everybody sees me as some kind of Jesus right now…everybody comes to me with their problems for some reason…"
Just like all the others in the room, I just stared at him now with a puzzled look.
"…I found Durham on his bed crying just a few days ago…" he explained, "…like…when he was all alone in the dorm."
"What, really?" Miguno asked in surprise.
Legoshi just nodded silently and with a little smirk towards him.
"Wh…what did he say?"
"Lots of things…" he told him with a little wink, "…but all you really got to know is that he could never, ever hate you for anything you do."
POV Miguno
This wolf was just such a treasure. I wasn´t entirely sure how much Durham really had shared with him, but that wasn´t important to him anyway, and he was not one to prattle anything either.
Hearing that from him gave me just that last bit of confidence I needed though.
I just couldn´t help myself but hug him once again. I wasn´t even bothered that the others knew about it as well anymore.
Jack now came towards us and hugged me as well. I was so happy right now.
"That was about the most courageous confession I´ve ever witnessed" Collot chuckled lowly, as he came towards us and hugged me as well gently.
Juno and Anita did the same without any hesitation, and I felt nothing but joy right now.
"You boys are all so sweet" Anita giggled, "I wish I had roommates as nice as you…"
"Yeah, honestly!" Juno agreed with her, "…they just keep on fighting about every little thing in my dorm."
"Thanks guys" I said, now with tears of joy in my "You´re the best!"
"Okay…" Legoshi chuckled, not able to move either because he was being hugged from all sides as well, "Ready to rock this thing?"
I nodded with a confident little smile. They all released us now slowly, but nevertheless kept on looking at us with big, happy smiles.
"Alright then" he said, waving me to follow him, "Let´s go set up some lights!"
He gave Juno a quick kiss before he already went to leave the room, I quickly got my guitar from my bed and followed him.
"Have fun, boys" Anita said after us, "See you later!"
"I´m so excited already!" Juno agreed, waving us as well.
"Best of luck, guys" Collot told us, "Gonna be great!"
With that motivation, Legoshi and I left the room and headed straight for the theatre hall.
POV Jack
"Wow" I chuckled as the door fell into its lock behind them, "I didn´t think he would tell you guys about this…"
"You knew about this?" Juno asked with a slightly confused chuckle.
"I´ve found him in the bathroom earlier this afternoon" I explained lowly, "…I offered him to talk about it…and…well…then he told me about it."
"So…he´s really in love with his best friend?"
"Seems like it" I told her with a shrug of my shoulders, "All I know is that I want to see him happy. He´s a good guy…"
"I think I´d find them really cute together" Anita chuckled light-heartedly.
"Yeah, me too" Juno agreed with a girly giggle.
"Now you´ve said it" Collot chuckled from his bed, "…he was looking at him a little differently lately…"
I just nodded with a little smirk.
"So I wasn´t the only one who´s been guessing it as well..."
"You think they´d really be going at it though?" Anita now chuckled with a naughty grin.
I just couldn´t help but grin a little about this as well. Then I nodded confidently.
"What, really?" Juno chuckled, seemingly a little shocked about me affirming it so convincingly.
"He told me about it earlier this afternoon…" I told them lowly, "…but a lot of guys did something like this out of curiosity I think…"
"Interesting" Anita grinned at me suddenly, "…out of curiosity?"
"I probably shouldn´t have said that…" it came to me just in that moment. I knew Anita would enjoy a topic like that, "…I should not have said that."
Anita loved to get me into uncomfortable situations, and she also was too clever to be fooled about something like that.
"Yeah" Juno giggled as well, "…I find that interesting as well now! What kind of guys do you think would try something like that?"
"Yeah, Jack…" Collot asked as well with an amused chuckle.
"Uhm…" I chuckled nervously, "…like…I´ve heard about this from a friend of mine, who-"
"Hihihi…" Anita giggled even louder now, immediately sealing my fate, "…come on, Jacky…tell us!"
"I uhm…" I said, hoping she would buy it, "…I don't exactly remember it anymore…so…"
Juno and Collot couldn´t stop grinning about this either. They had me in a real quagmire here.
"Yeah, right…" she grinned, "…you don't remember exactly…"
"We…" I sighed, "…we just experimented with each other a little."
"Experimented?" Anita grinned.
"Who is ´we´?" Juno wanted to know.
I really hesitated a little while with my answer to that, because I didn´t actually want to tell them about that without him knowing about it, but my hesitation made them guess it for themselves anyway, sadly. I believed even Collot raised his eyebrows a little in that moment.
"What, really?!" Anita laughed out, "…are you serious?"
"No way" Juno said, grinning in equal amusement.
I just nodded a little though. "He´s my best friend since Kindergarten" he explained, "Who else would I trust with something like this?"
They both looked at me like I was the cutest thing they´ve ever seen in their lives right now. Collot just nodded understandingly, maybe also because he guessed it correctly beforehand.
"You guys are just full of surprises" Juno chuckled.
"Yeah…" I chuckled, "…I was surprised by myself that I´ve even found the guts for that…"
"I was just about to say it…" Collot chuckled, "…Legoshi is a nice guy, but he is a wolf after all…"
I was actually a little surprised that Collot was this relaxed about this topic as well. I thought he might find all that very weird right now.
I just nodded to that question.
"He can be very gentle…" Juno affirmed with a little smirk, "…but he also can be quite the beast…"
"Really?" Anita asked curiously, not able to hide a dirty little grin, "…I mean…is Legoshi really that much of a beast when it comes to that?"
The both of us, Juno and I, found ourselves nodding to that question. Then we couldn't stop ourselves from laughing about that simultaneous agreement loudly.
"He seems so innocent all the time…" Anita giggled, before she added with a dirty grin, "…but it sounds freaking hot just hearing you talk about it…"
"Really?!" I asked her ironically, like I was totally shocked about that statement.
"Don't look at me like that…" she chuckled with a happy, still a little naughty smile, massaging one of my ears a little, before she added: "He´s a good-looking wolf!"
Juno just shook her head in pure disbelief, but she couldn´t stop herself from grinning happily either.
"…no denying it" Collot chuckled in agreement, "…Juno and Legoshi on stage were the hottest things I´ve seen in a while…"
I just waved it off with a little grin now, actually really happy that Anita was this relaxed about this.
"Yeah" Juno said with a big grin, "There is a reason why my whole dorm keeps talking about him."
"Oh, but don't be fooled!" I grinned at her now, "They´re talking about you as well…"
"They do?" she asked with a little chuckle.
I liked how Collot just nodded kinda shyly now.
"Ever since Romeo and Juliet. …Collot especially…" I explained with an ironic little grin towards him.
That just made her giggle even more.
I´ve never actually talked to her without Legoshi being around before I just noticed. I would lie when I said I wasn´t at all scared of her presence and of who she was, but I was warming up to her more and more in the meanwhile.
"I guess boys will always be boys" Anita chuckled, "Can´t be too mad at them…"
"Yeah…guess you´re right" Juno agreed, "They be only thinking about that one thing all the time!"
"Hey!" I said in our defence, just as somebody opened the door to our dorm again, "…that´s not true! Don't tell me you guys don't want it as well sometimes!"
Durham now entered the room, followed by Voss, who had to walk for himself right now since Collot was already here.
"What´s not true?" the grey coyote chuckled, "Did I miss anything?"
I just pointed at the girls with a little smirk, "They just accused us gentlemen of just thinking about ´that one thing´ all the time!"
Durham couldn't help but just grin widely about that. "Not all the time…" he said with a little smile, as the girls kept on giggling about it, "…but…"
"I´d never even think about that" Collot said with a big grin, "Not sure what you´re talking about…"
"Yeah, no idea" Voss agreed dryly.
"Thanks guys" I sighed ironically, "You´re really helping me out here…"
Juno and Anita still found this too funny to stop themselves giggling happily.
"Aww" Anita said, coming towards me again and hugging me gently, "…poor little Jacky. Everybody is so mean to you…"
POV Legoshi
"Oh wow" one of his band-members said lowly as he noticed us, "You weren´t kidding, Miguno…"
"Would I ever lie to you?" he asked back with a little chuckle.
"Hey guys" I greeted them, waving them shortly, "Nice to meet you!"
They all nodded with respectful little smiles, but it didn´t seem like they wanted to come any closer to me right now. I could literally feel their fear of me.
They all knew what happened to Bill yesterday, obviously. I´ve had this the whole day already. The entire school took their safe distance from me, apart from the people who knew me personally, and also with the exception of Legom, the hen who sat next to me in class. She didn´t seem to be afraid of me either for some reason.
"Legoshi said he´ll help us with the lights" Miguno explained to his band, beginning to unpack his gear as well now.
They just nodded again with awkward little smiles, but they still seemed a little too shy to say anything.
"I´m very sorry you had to see what I did to Bill yesterday…" I told them therefore, speaking low- and carefully, "…and I´m not mad at you for being scared."
"Legoshi is the sweetest guy ever since I knew him" Miguno supported me, "…don't worry guys, he would never harm you for any reason! …and you know what that Tiger did…"
I nodded to that with a warm little smile.
One of his band members now stopped fiddling with his microphones for a second and shook my hand carefully.
"Nice to meet you, Legoshi" the vulture said lowly, "I´m very sorry. My name is Sora."
I nodded again with an understanding little smile.
"…Bill had this coming for a long time…" he added, "…I was just a little surprised how brutal all that had become…"
"Yeah…" I sighed, "…I should never have set a foot on the stage to be honest. Would have saved everyone a lot of trouble."
Now the other two members of the band, a slightly chubby raccoon and a jaguar came a little closer as well.
"You getting on that stage is the reason why we´re performing here tonight…" the jaguar told me lowly, "We would never have had the guts if Miguno hadn´t told us about you."
"…yeah" the vulture agreed, "But we´re tired of hiding! …oh, and that hateful tiger could have never replaced you by the way…"
I just nodded once more with a little smile, ignoring the comment about Bill though.
"It´s such an honour to meet you personally" the raccoon told me lowly, as I shook hands with him, "I´m Eric."
"Come on Eric" I chuckled at him with a little wink, "I´m just a student as well."
"You are awesome…" the jaguar mentioned nevertheless, shaking my hand as well now, "…don't let anybody tell you otherwise!"
I just shrugged my shoulders with a little smirk at this point. I was tired of hearing it.
"Tonight it´s about you guys being awesome" I told him with a motivating smile, pointing at the stage now, where they´ve already set up some drums, a bass, a violin, a keyboard, a banjo and quite a few microphones which I recognized were borrowed from the school´s theatre equipment, "…let me get the power switched on really quick and we´ll make sure they´ll see you properly!"
"Light it up, Legoshi" Miguno chuckled excitedly, "We´re tired of hiding!"
"Finally! That´s the energy we need! Show them what´s up, Miguno!"
As I was on my way towards the back of the stage already, I quickly turned around once again and nodded with a little smirk, "You won´t be able to hide anymore, trust me. We´re going to take care of that!"
POV Miguno
I couldn´t help but chuckle at the way my band stared after him in pure awe.
"Not that much of a selfish asshole after all, is he, Yuma?" I asked the jaguar with a little smirk, who had been saying something like that about him earlier, although I was pretty sure he meant it in an ironic way back then already.
"That was smooth as fuck…" he chuckled in agreement, "…I get why the all want him as a Beastar…"
"He´s a really good guy…" I told them once more, getting to work with my setup as well now, "…and I´m really glad he stayed so humble about it…"
"Let´s see if you can stay that humble as well…" the vulture playing the keyboard told me with a little grin.
Since I basically was the lead-vocalist of our band, he might have a point there I just noticed.
"…let´s see what they think of us first" I chuckled, "…I´d already be happy if they don´t leave after the second song…"
"Our last recording session sounded really good…" Yuma mentioned, "…and I´m sure they´ll love the little L. That´s the best thing you ever came up with!"
"Yeah, I´m hyped for that as well" Sora agreed.
"Come on guys…" Eric now chuckled, "Let´s get the sound-check going! I´m really hungry and we start in just over an hour!"
"Right" I agreed, taking my position on the stage, now with my guitar strapped around my neck, as just in that moment Legoshi already aimed the first spotlight on us, "Let´s get to work!"
The time just flew by before our show started. We barely had time to get a quick snack before we had to get ready, and the nervousness among us grew with every second.
Our gear was ready, our soundcheck was done as well, all our strings were in tune and just as promised, Legoshi had helped us setting up a few spotlights and an overall really comfortable atmosphere for the show. Everything was as good as it could get, and yet I was still so nervous I had an ache in my stomach thinking about it.
Then the students suddenly came into the hall and reserved themselves the best seats they could get. Making the guys from my dorm spread the word had paid off as it seemed. Friends of mine, classmates, a lot of the drama-club actors, even Mosca showed up I noticed, and they all just came to see us play.
And Durham was here as well of course. Just in the first row, besides Collot, Voss and the rest of my dorm, and their girlfriends, the handsome, a wine-red t-shirt wearing, ever so mysteriously smiling coyote took a seat and waited for the show to begin with great expectations. Just peaking past the curtains and seeing that he came got me more excited.
"You are doing this for a reason. You´ve come this far, don´t mess it up now! Get out there and show them what you were born to do!"
And then our moment arrived. Suddenly we had just five minutes left, then it were just two minutes and then my band and I suddenly, without further ado, moved onto the stage and into the spotlight.
"This was it. Now or never."
POV Durham
"Daylight is fading, you´re sippin´ your potion,
You ain´t thinking straight, simply lost the emotion…
Wasting your time through the night - like a kid on the run…"
(Song Name: Pegasus – Metropolitans)
Miguno began singing to the violin and the slow chords from the keyboard that slowly but surely became a little louder, and his voice immediately gave me chills. I never knew he could sing like that. He never lost a word about that before.
"God he is awesome!"
"…The lights of the city now, spread like an ocean,
Everything around you, would turn in slow motion
Asking yourself all the time: where has everyone gone?"
He really looked good in that white shirt and his wide black pants tonight, even more handsome than usual in my opinion. And his scratchy voice just sounded so nice when he was singing. I was just so proud of him right now.
"…and all you need is a guiding light…
So hold up the fire, say it out loud,
For someone to hear you, out of the crowd
In these millions of people, millions of dreams to come true!"
Now the other members of his band joined in on the refrain and their harmony was just beautiful. I couldn´t understand why they had been hiding this for so long. The whole audience immediately seemed to enjoy it as well.
I was just focussed on the spotted hyena though. My best friend ever since childhood. I knew he was good at playing the guitar, he practised it every day of the week, sometimes it even annoyed me a little, but I never knew he could perform like that on stage. I was just awestruck. I would almost say I was in love.
"And you´re stuck in the middle, lost in the light
You feel that the flame is, fading inside
While somebody is dreaming, dreaming of someone like you…"
His voice carried emotions I wasn´t able to comprehend. Just like with Legoshi, the entire crowd immediately loved him, and I was just completely mesmerized as well. I was so glad he finally got out of his shell and set a foot into the spotlight as well. He was more than just a cute hyena, and I knew that since the first day I met him.
"If only I could tell him that without it becoming awkward between us. If I only could tell him how much he really meant to me. If I only told him that before he went on stage tonight and made everybody else fall in love with him as well…"
POV Legoshi
They really had rocked out during their sound check earlier, but their concert they wanted to start off with something slower and more emotional as it seemed. It sounded fantastic nevertheless and the crowd quickly showed that.
The songs that followed were a little more upbeat than the first one, but they had a really harmonic sound as well and it was over-all very enjoyable to listen. It already was a great success in my opinion. Their songs were catchy, easy to understand and provided us with a great mood and atmosphere the whole time.
I couldn't help but take a look at Durham from time to time though, just like the others trying to find out which song Miguno had been talking about and how he would react to it. They played quite a few songs without any reaction from him, other than the regular, excited applause of course, but then suddenly, another, much different wave of energy hit the audience. The jaguar who had played the violin earlier now switched back to his bass, the raccoon switched from the drum-set back to his banjo and Miguno carried his guitar towards the singing-microphone with the single kick-drum next to its stand.
The hyena now took a quick look at each of his band members, they all nodded, and then he began strumming his guitar again in quite a quick pace.
Soon later the raccoon joined him with his banjo.
"Weep for yourself my man,
You´ll never be what is in your heart,
Weep little lion man,
You´re not as brave as you were at the start…"
(Song name: Little Lion Man – Mumford & Sons; in case you haven't figured it out already ^^)
The melody was very catchy yet and his scratchy voice immediately got us hooked once again. I really enjoyed those fast guitar strokes and the quick notes the raccoon added with his banjo. Then the whole band joined in on the singing once again and lifted it to a whole ´nother level. I loved this song immediately.
Then they hit us with what seemed to be the refrain of their song and it was almost impossible to not at all move or at least nod to the beat. Some people in the audience actually got off their seats and clapped to the rhythm, while the four musicians played the hell out of their instruments.
"Tremble for yourself my man, I know you´ve seen this all before
Tremble little lion man, you´ll never settle any of your scores…"
"Your grace is wasted in your face, your boldness stands alone among the wreck,
Now learn from your mother or else spend your days biting your own neck!"
I thought they were good before, now I was truly amazed. They immediately moved the entire crowd. Miguno used the drum by his feet to support the beat of the refrain and they all began clapping to it as well.
And then I finally noticed it: Durham couldn't stop himself from smiling in pure delight. I even thought I caught a tear of joy running down his face. This was the song Miguno had written for him, I had no doubts about it anymore.
This was their best song tonight. And it wasn´t just a song, it was a freaking hymn. There was no way he could be mad at him for that. That was a declaration of love, if I had ever seen one.
The third time they hit their refrain, half the crowd was singing with them already.
"But it was not your fault but mine
And it was your heart on the line
…I really fucked It up this time…
Didn´t I my dear?
Didn´t I my dear?"
They now played the crap out of their instruments again and the audience got completely wild right once more. They mood was just fantastic and I was nothing but proud of him to finally show his talent to someone.
They repeated their refrain once again for the ending, this time a little lower, until it was just Miguno in the end, singing the last line once again:
"…I really fucked it up this time…
didn´t I my dear?
Didn´t I my dear?"
A really crazy applause broke loose for them now and they just smiled proudly at the awesome feeling they had created. This was definitely the climax of their performance, and at this point I wasn´t worried about anything anymore. I just enjoyed it at this point.
Just for this one moment, everything in my life seemed to be alright for once. Juno was sitting on my lap with her arms around me, Anita and Jack were arm in arm as well, listening to Miguno´s band in great delight, I´ve never seen Durham looking more-happy before either and I even had spotted Haru and Sebastian keeping each other company for tonight. My friends from the drama-club were here, they all seemed to have a great time as well, and for once it wasn´t all just about me.
"That was really cute…" Juno suddenly giggled, looking me right in the eyes for a short moment, "…makes me feel kinda excited just thinking about it…"
"You mean Durham and Miguno?" I asked with an amused little chuckle. I was pretty sure she had the same feeling as I about this.
She nodded with a dirty little grin.
I just affirmed her question with a little nod myself, then I replied her naughty little smirk.
I really began to enjoy that kind of sexual playfulness in the meanwhile, and with all that love and those good vibes around us, I didn´t even mind about her starting it here. Everybody knew what was going on between us anyway, so why should I bother to try and hide it?
"You look really beautiful tonight" I told her with a happy little grin, before I kissed her right on the mouth passionately. I didn't mind them watching, I didn't mind them talking, I didn´t care about what they thought.
I was just happy right now. Truly happy, and that was the only thing that counted.
There we go, hope you enjoyed it a little. Tell me what you think in the comments or on Discord ;)
The guys on Discord already know about the next smut chapters like the 14.4 btw. (just saying :D)
And in case you´ve forgotten, I want to mention it here again once more: It would mean the world to me if you went over to ferofox´s story "Worlds collide" (on AO3) and tell him what you think. I promise you, it´s worth it. Furrwolf approved ;)
(MrShurukan here, I love the FeroFox's story too! Totally give him a chance!)
…I think that´s enough advertisement for today.
Have a great time, see you soon for more!
~furr