Hey guys, sorry for the long wait.

This chapter turned out to be very long again, so I split it into two parts for your convenience.

Hope you have an interesting read!

Beastars – Into the spotlight 2.0

Chapter 7 – The remains of Haru´s paradise (part 1)

POV Kenji

"Oh shit!" I said in slight panic, "I´m sorry!"

I immediately squatted down next to him and asked if he was alright, he still seemed a little dizzy from the fall.

"Leon!" Sanu asked, "Are you alright?"

I quickly reached him a hand and helped him to sit upright, I really felt bad for him right now.

He rubbed his forehead with one of his hands, still having a rather pain-inflicted expression on his face. "Shit…" he cursed lowly.

We all took a closer look, but it seemed like he wasn´t bleeding or seriously injured at first glance, luckily.

He had stumbled over my foot when we rehearsed our fighting-choreography, and sadly he missed the matrass by a few inches. As a result, he pretty much face-planted onto the hard wooden floor of the rehearsal room, probably getting himself a little bit of a swelling with that.

Over all, we´ve made quite good progress with this scene in the meanwhile, but mistakes still happened.

Sanu inspected his forehead a little closer now, then he nodded confidently. It didn´t seem as bad as it looked like when it happened.

"Should we get you some Ice?" Lucy asked him, he already shook his head about it.

"No, thanks…" he waved it off, "I think I´m okay."

"Sorry man" I told him again, "That was not on purpose!"

He nodded. "It was my fault. I think I skipped a step earlier."

We just kept watching him as he rubbed his forehead once more and then tried to get back up onto his feet again.

He wasn´t mad at me or anyone, and he also wasn´t disappointed that we didn´t have a perfect run with our fight scene either. He was just totally transformed ever since that one weekend. He stayed positive about it, and that was just the spirit we all needed. I thought he was just such a rock-star all over sudden.

"We´ve almost got it" Sanu told us, seemingly still rather content as well, "We shouldn´t let a little slip-up like that throw us back. We´ve made very good progress!"

"Yeah" Hazel agreed with him, "I think it looked really awesome guys! I´m sure you´ll get it right with the next try!"

The wolf nodded with a little smile, I felt really flattered about that compliment from the pretty gazelle girl.

This newly found dynamic between Leon and Lucy had helped all of us to improve quite a lot since we began rehearsing, I thought we all were having quite a lot of fun on stage now. The wolf now sort of leading the team like that left quite an impression on me.

I was ready to call him a friend of mine in the meanwhile, it bugged me a little bit that I hadn´t shown him more respect earlier. But he seemed cool with me as well now, so I guess it was a little bit of a water under the bridge situation already anyway.

It seemed like he had totally resolved his little rivalry with Lucy as well in the meanwhile, and I could tell how much she enjoyed that too. They had even practiced their kissing scene in front of us now, just like professional actors.

It inspired me to take my own role of Tybalt a lot more serious as well, I´ve even been practicing my angry growl here in the rehearsal room at night a couple of times. I was pretty sure they all noticed that it had improved.

"Come on" Leon now told me with a little nod, "Let´s try it one more time today!"

I nodded affirmingly and hurried to get back into my starting position.

The beat set in again, we both began nodding our heads to it to find the rhythm, at the first drop we both began moving again. This time, it looked even more promising than before.

POV Bailey

I really wasn´t sure if this was a good idea. When I had seen him in the hallway earlier, he had his sports bag with him and headed into the direction of the sports hall. He didn´t look when he walked past me, I had the feeling he wasn´t looking at anybody.

I assumed he was going for another workout in the gym, it seemed like he never gave himself a break.

Not having had the guts to ask him out to the May-Day ball throughout the entire last week, I saw this as my last chance.

I had asked Lucy if Julian had asked her out yet a couple of times, but she always just shook her head about it. She told me she was going with Leon, it appeared she had quite a connection with him in the meanwhile. The other dormmates and I still were a little skeptical about that though.

Lucy didn´t talk much about him. She didn't shed any intimate or personal details and she didn´t want to tell us any interesting stories that happened between them. It actually kinda did seem like she just wanted his father´s attention after all; and that that was the reason she was putting up with him.

But maybe that was just my jealous mind speaking. Not having a date myself just frustrated me on so many levels right now. But I still haven't quite given up on it yet.

I had decided to go for the gym room as well now, pretending to be there for a workout myself. I´ve even changed into my sports clothing to make it look realistic.

I was hoping I would meet him alone there, I´ve never actually been there before and had no Idea how crowded it usually was. I assumed it wasn´t very crowded right now, most students where already preparing the Ball or getting ready for it themselves. It was quite a big topic on campus after all.

When I entered the school´s sports-hall, I was kinda surprised by the quietness here. I usually just knew this room with a lot of people in it, doing exercises or playing team-based games with their classmates. Now it was pretty much empty.

The little gym room was right next to the hall, there actually were windows in the wall between the two rooms. I´ve never been in that gym-room before though, and when I entered, I noticed that it wasn´t actually as small as it looked like from the outside.

And just like I´ve been expecting it, it was pretty much empty right now. But there was a noise coming from one of the corners, and it quickly got my attention. I noticed a punching bag swinging from left to right, the steel chain it was attached to the ceiling with squeaked and rattled, the paws hitting it made a strong and almost violent-bassy sound with every impact.

The gym wasn´t entirely empty. There was one lonely red fox boy here, disrupting the peaceful silence here with his racket all on his own.

I slowly walked past the slightly aged looking machines and fitness equipment, getting closer towards the person of my affection.

Julian apparently hadn´t even noticed me coming in here, it appeared he was just focused on releasing all his energy into that punching bag.

It was almost a little scary to watch. He looked so determined, almost rage-driven. I´ve never seen this side of him before, and I wasn't quite sure if I liked it. But he seemed to be dealing with something that really got to him, and I wanted to be there to help him with that nevertheless.

POV Julian

"You goddamn loser!"

I screamed in my head.

"Everybody is going to the Ball with someone and you´re alone like all the other nobodies from your dorm!"

I hit the punching bag again, my hands began to feel really sore in the meanwhile. I didn´t care about my hands though, just like nobody ever cared about me.

"Of course she would never go with me! I´m just a little fox after all."

The punching bag swung back towards me and I hit it even harder.

"The runt of the family. The unwanted accident. The no-good troublemaker."

I wasn´t quite sure why I wasn't yelling all this out loudly right now, I was totally alone here anyway. Nobody wanted to work out when the big exciting Ball-event was being prepared already.

I hit the bag a couple more times, then I slowly but surely felt my energy reserves starting to fade and my paws beginning to hurt more and more.

Then I suddenly noticed the presence of someone from behind me. It shocked me so badly I immediately flinched a little.

"I´m not alone here!"

I really hoped I didn´t say any of that out loud, I honestly couldn't tell if I did or not.

"Bailey!" I greeted her hastily after turning around, "…what are you doing here?"

In that moment another nasty shock went through my body, this time it was a physical one though. I had totally forgotten about the punching bag still swinging back and forth behind me, and I must have taken a little step back when I turned around. It hurt a little bit, but I was able to pretend that it didn´t affect me in a relatively convincing manner.

"I…I mean what are you doing in the gym?" I added.

"H-hey Julian" she greeted me shyly.

She almost looked a little scared of me right now, I already felt really sorry she had to see me like that. I felt like a real jerk right now, she probably had been talking to me already and I haven't even heard or noticed her.

"I-I…" she began, "…I saw you with your sports bag on your way here earlier."

I took a deep breath.

"Is…is everything alright?"

"I…uhm…" I stuttered, "…yeah! I´m okay!"

That probably didn't sound as convincing as I hoped. Especially after she had seen me rage-out like that just now. She had caught me red handed, quite literally.

"W-what about you?" I asked back, taking a very short look at my hands which were slightly bleeding I just noticed. That old punching back was really rough and the bruises on the back of my paws where quite deep after all that rage driven beating.

I was a little dumbfounded when Bailey now suddenly took my hands with hers and inspected them a little closer as well.

"Oh my god" she whispered, "You´re bleeding!"

"Yeah…" I said, feeling even dumber right now. Of course, I couldn't hide that from her, no point in even thinking that.

"Why would you do that?" she asked.

"Why would I do…what?" I couldn't quite follow what she meant, "…it´s a good method of training core strength and-"

"You´re hurting yourself on purpose!" she yelled out in shock, folding her hands before her mouth, "Why would you do that?"

"I…I…" I stuttered, "No! I didn´t do it on purpose! I…"

She now looked directly into my eyes, I felt so called out right now. I had the feeling she could see right through my façade, no matter what I would tell her.

"Is this…" she asked, "…is this because Lucy didn´t want to go to the ball with you?"

"I…" I sighed, "I haven't asked her. She´s with someone else already."

I tried to keep a straight face when I told her that, but it became increasingly harder to hold back my tears for some reason. Realization hit me way harder than I thought it would.

She had a bit of sadness in her eyes as well right now, I wasn't quite sure if she just felt really bad for me or if she had something of a similar issue right now. Last time I had asked her she didn´t have a date for tonight either.

"I…I´m sorry." I told her lowly, "I´m sorry if I scared you. I feel like a total dumba-"

In that moment she just frontally hugged me. It seemed a bit like a reflex to make me shut up, but it also felt rather genuine. She didn´t even care that I was in my musky sports clothes.

"Come on" she said lowly, "Don't beat yourself up over it."

She hugged me even a little bit tighter now, not letting me escape if I had the intention of doing that.

I felt a tear running down my face now, there was no point in denying it anymore. Having somebody this close to me felt nice, I was actually glad she found me here now.

It always was nice talking to Bailey. She was a sweet and genuine friend, I often valued her opinions and I always had the feeling I could trust her.

She released me again after a little while, I was still sobbing slightly.

"It´s not just because of Lucy" I then told her, "Sometimes it feels like I´m not good enough for anything…"

She still had that somewhat sad glint in her eyes when I said that, but then she suddenly smiled at me a little. At first, I thought it was out of pity, but then I noticed that she was shaking her head a little bit.

"You´re so cute…" she said lowly, "I´m sure Lucy will realize what she´s missing out on someday."

I looked at the sweet chocolate brown Labrador girl once again, seeing her in a totally different light all over sudden. She was so pretty too, and I now began asking myself why I´ve never even considered her as a date before. I´ve always just seen her as a good friend, maybe because she was so shy usually.

"Wh-what?" I stuttered, being kinda dumbfounded by her saying that.

She was a lot more-shy as well now, it seemed like she just realized as well what she just told me.

I stared at my bleeding hands for another moment, then I quickly hid them behind my back once again.

"S-sorry" she muttered lowly.

"N-no!" I told her, trying hard not to sound like a dumbass jerk, "Thank you for saying that!" I blurted out, "…I mean!"

She smiled a little more now.

"I mean…I think you´re really cute as well!"

She looked so happy all over sudden. It seemed like she had just been waiting for me to say that.

She hadn't come here for a workout after all, this had been her intention all along.

"You know" she said lowly, still holding on to my hands, "If you don't have anything else to do tonight…"

She looked me right in the eyes once again. "…we could go to the ball together?"

"R-really?" I asked, having somewhat expected that suggestion but being a little dumbfounded about it nevertheless.

"Y-yeah…" she said shyly, "I mean…only if you want to-"

"Yes!" I blurted out, "I mean…I would love to go with you!"

She just smiled at me even wider now.

"I don't have a very fancy suit though…" I told her right away, "…but I think I have packed a nice shirt last time I was at home..."

"Oh, don't worry about that" she waved it off, still sounding slightly nervous, "I don't have my prettiest dress here either."

"I think we´ll be alright" I said with a nod. She nodded as well, then we were left with a slightly awkward silence.

"Thanks for asking me!" I told her, "I´m glad I don't have to go alone!"

"Yeah…" she sighed in relief and with an excited smile, "…me too!"

I now took a short look at the clock on the wall, it was almost 6pm in the meanwhile.

"Maybe we should get ourselves ready…" I suggested, "It´s gonna start soon!"

"Yeah" she agreed, "You´re right!"

I took the towel I had left on one of the other machines earlier and followed her out of the room.

We went up the stairs together, exited the sports hall building and headed straight for the dorms.

"I´ll be at your dorm in half an hour" I suggested, just before our ways separated, "Is that okay for you?"

"Yeah! Of course!" she said with a nod and a slightly nervous little smile, "Sounds great! See you later, Julian!"

POV Leon

Sanu hadn't left us much time preparing for the May Day ball. We pulled through with rehearsals just like on every other day, Lucy and I barely had half an hour left to get ourselves ready.

I was just looking at myself in the mirror once more when somebody else knocked at the bathroom door rather hastily.

I still had a bit of a bruise from when I faceplanted during rehearsals earlier, but it wasn´t looking as bad as I thought.

The person outside knocked again, I had a slight foreboding who this could be already.

"Come on" he yelled through the door in slight annoyance, "Are you done in there or what?"

I was done with my shower and everything else, but I didn´t mind keeping the red fox waiting for another moment or two.

"What is he so impatient about anyway? I thought he wasn´t going to the ball."

I slowly opened the door and he indeed looked really impatient. Faster than I could look he rushed past me and threw the door into its lock behind him.

I looked at the door in slight confusion, then at Mark who was preparing himself for the ball as well.

"What´s gotten into him all over sudden?" I asked.

The hyena just shrugged his shoulders with a little smile. "He didn´t say a word to me either. I thought he wasn´t going."

"Well…" I said, "I didn't think you would be going either to be honest."

"Yeah, me neither" he agreed, looking a little uncertain about it indeed, "Connie asked me when I met her in the library yesterday evening."

"Oh that´s nice" I told him with a little smile, "Never knew you two were getting along so well."

"She´s sitting next to me in biology class" he mentioned, "We always talk quite a bit during lessons. It appears we have quite similar taste in music."

"Oh that´s awesome."

"She plays guitar and wants to start a band someday" he said with a nervous little chuckle, scratching the back of his head, "I´m not sure if I´m cool enough to hang out with her to be honest…"

He was standing in front of the shelf´s mirror right now, looking at his own reflection. I thought he was looking quite cool for his standards as well. He wore a nice blood-red shirt and black pants, I assumed they were the nicest clothes he had with him here in the dorm.

"Come on, of course you´re cool enough to hang out with her" I told him, "She wouldn't have wanted to go with you if it was any different, right?"

He just tilted his head with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"You think I look alright?" he asked, still with a hint of doubt in his voice.

"I think it looks good" I told him with an honest nod, "And I´m sure you´re gonna have a lot of fun tonight as well."

He now just pointed at me with a slight motion of his head. "Well…but I do feel a little underdressed compared to you."

"You´ll be alright" I waved it off with a smile, "I feel totally over-dressed if I´m honest."

"No better time to show off" Gerard commented to that with an ironic chuckle, "Right?"

I took a look and now noticed that he indeed was wearing a suit as well right now. It wasn't quite as fancy looking as the dark blue one my mom had prepared for me, but it surely would gain quite a bit of attention as well. It was bright orange and had a lot of glittering little accessories attached to it. But of anyone I could see wearing that, Gerard was the one who fit the bill the most. He looked quite excited about tonight too, this was just his kind of thing.

"You got a date too?" I asked him in slight amusement.

"Nah…" he shook his head with a grin, "I´m just going for the fun of it."

I nodded, then I quickly checked the time on my phone once again. I still had a few minutes to spare before I would meet up with Lucy. I guessed she needed a bit of time to prepare herself as well, but I didn´t feel a need to rush anyway. Having a few minutes to relax has never been a bad thing before.

POV Bailey

When I came back from my little but very exciting gym encounter with Julian, everyone from my dorm was in the middle of preparing themselves for the ball already. No matter if they had dates or not, they all wanted to go tonight, and they all looked so pretty.

Kana the red husky looked just as gorgeous as usual when she wasn´t obliged to wear a school uniform, her make-up was on point and her eyes where gleaming.

Lupe was looking kinda nice as well for her standards. Her red pants matched the red streak in her hair and the black top gave the coyote´s look at least a little bit of a classy note as well.

Sasha the white artic vixen had a deep blue dress on her which made her blue eyes really shine. A hint of a black eyeshadow rounded it off and made her look really cool and desirable. I guessed that Kana had helped her with that make-up choice a little bit. They were all here, but one of my dorm mates was not to be spotted right away.

"Where is Lucy?" I asked in slight puzzlement as I didn´t see or hear her.

"She´s still in the bathroom" Kana informed me, "She just came back from drama-club practice."

I nodded understandingly.

"You going in sports clothes to party?" Sasha asked with a little grin.

"N-no" I said, now getting reminded that I really needed to prepare myself for my evening as well, "I want to wear something nice as well but I need to shower first."

I quickly went over to my drawer to grab all the things I needed, then I headed back to the bathroom.

"Are you going alone now or what?" Lupe asked dryly. I wasn't quite sure if it was because of pure greed or because she didn't have a date herself, but I wasn´t too surprised by that question from her.

I just shook my head while knocking on the door.

Lucy usually didn´t mind sharing the bathroom, I really hoped she wouldn't mind right now either.

"Lucy, can I come in? I´m in a bit of a hurry!"

"Bailey?" she asked through the door.

"Yeah, it´s me" I affirmed, "I really need to shower."

She opened the door from the inside and smiled at me. She was completely nude right now, but just like expected she didn´t mind me joining.

"What´s gotten you so excited for tonight?" she asked in amusement.

I couldn´t hide a proud little smile right now, I figured she already guessed it.

"Girl, you´re glowing" she grinned, "How´d you do it?"

I quickly closed the door the bathroom behind me, put my selection of clothes and my towel onto the toiled seat quickly and then began undressing myself as well in order to take my shower.

I looked at her a couple of times while she braded her hair, I had a hard time looking anywhere else. She was just so pretty, even when she didn´t wear anything. The long legs and arms, the natural brown sleeves, the wild mane that ran down from the top of her head all the way down the back of her neck. She looked so mature already.

"I just visited him in the gym" I told her lowly, trying to think of something believable that wouldn´t bring up the main reason why he wanted to go with me, "…and then I casually asked him what he was doing tonight."

"Oh wow" she said with a happy smile, "Didn't I tell you?! I knew he liked you as well!"

"Y-yeah…" I said with a sigh, trying to fake a little smile.

Then I closed the door of the cabin behind me and turned on the water.

"Oh come on" she yelled over the noise of the shower, "Don't be nervous now, you got this!"

It didn´t feel like I really needed to answer that right now. I started working shampoo into my fur, for some reason even more thoroughly than usual, trying to forget about the maned wolf girl from the drama club for a moment.

Having seen her gorgeous naked body wasn´t exactly boosting my confidence right now. There probably was a reason why Julian rather wanted to go with her than with me, I was nowhere near as exciting and interesting to look at as a maned wolf. Nor as sexy.

I tried to swallow my concerns right now, getting myself cleaned up was by far more important. Serious love interest or not, I didn´t want to keep him waiting for me.

When I left the shower cabin again, Lucy was still in here. I wasn´t quite sure why, but it seemed like it was more about the privacy than her actually still needing the mirror.

She was wearing her new dress in the meanwhile, it looked just as gorgeous on her as I had imagined it when she first showed it to us. She had been saving up money for this since a long time as she told us when she came back from shopping tour a few days ago, and then she found this really cute bright purple, almost magenta colored dress that suited her slim statue just so perfectly. It looked high quality and fancy, I guessed she must have easily paid 20000yen for it.

Even though I was a little bit jealous, I couldn´t blame her for treating herself to something nice. She was working harder than any of us.

But the dress my mom got me for my last birthday was really pretty as well, I just got reminded about that when I picked it out of the drawer. I really liked how it looked in combination with the color of my fur, but I still wasn't sure if I was confident enough to pull off wearing it in front of the entire school.

I gave Lucy a little smile when she reached me the towel I had brought into the bathroom with me.

"You ready for tonight?" she asked, carefully applying a subtle note of matching pink lipstick to herself.

"I…" I said while drying my fur, "I don't really know. I´m not sure what to expect to be honest."

She nodded understandingly.
"What about you, Lucy? Are you expecting him to finally make a move?"

Her smile now widened a little, I would almost call it a dirty little grin at this point. I couldn´t help but smile about that.

"Oh don't act so innocent now" she grinned at me, "I´ve seen how you´ve been looking at that fox-boy recently!"

"Lucy!"

"You´re looking good girl" she told me, patting my shoulders with a little wink, "Just saying. He wouldn´t have said yes if he wasn´t interested…"

"Oh shush" I muttered, feeling a little flustered but also ashamed about that complement at the same time.

"Have you made up your mind on what to wear already?"

"No…" I said with a shake of my head, looking at myself in the mirror, "Not really. Julian said he doesn't have anything too fancy with him, I don't want to go over the top about it either."

"But that mustn´t stop you from looking cute, right?" she asked.

She picked up the white and light blue faded dress my mom had gifted me for my last birthday and held it next to me so I could see it in the mirror. I really liked that dress, but I haven't found a reason to wear it so far. Maybe tonight was a good occasion for that, but I still wasn´t quite sure about it.

"Maybe if I just wear some nice pants and a casual shirt?" I asked.

"Come on, Bails" she said, "Get out of your shell! He won´t be able to take his eyes off you!"

"You…you think?"
"Do you want to fuck him tonight or not?" she asked, putting the dress into my hands now.

"Lucy, Language!" I told her.

She just grinned even wider now. "What?"

"Stop being so horny, okay?" I smiled with a little sigh, bumping her away with my hips a little bit.

"Well…do you?" she asked unforgivingly.

"What about you?" I asked back, "Do you want to…with Leon tonight?"

She now wordlessly got in front of the mirror next to me again, doing a full turn in her dress.

"In my mind, they´re doing a ´spring ball´ for a good reason" she said with a big dirty grin.

She truly was a little reckless sometimes, there was no doubt about it. But somehow, I even was a little jealous about that easy attitude for some reason. Maybe I really should get out of my shell a little bit.

"You look so pretty in your dress" I told her lowly but with a genuine smile, trying to change the topic a little. "I bet he won´t be able to take his eyes of you either!"

"Come on" she told me again, rattling my shoulders slightly "Let´s all look pretty tonight! There´s no reason why you shouldn't!"

POV Yuma

I had a rough first draft of the outline already, but I wasn´t quite sure if I got all the proportions quite right. I was just waiting for him to come out of the bathroom again, hoping he just like usually wouldn't have his torso covered just yet.

I was working on an art commission somebody had requested and paid quite a respectable amount of money for, and they requested something Julian was just the ideal model for.

I would never tell him about it off course, but he couldn´t blame me for it when he kept on showing off like that all the time anyway.

When he finally did leave the bathroom, he certainly delivered just what I needed for reference. Even more than that as it turned out, because today he wasn´t even bothered to cover his lower half with his towel.

He seemed to be in too much of a hurry to care, he just went straight for the wardrobe and collected everything he needed for his outfit.

I immediately used the opportunity and re-drew the lines of my original sketch, all the way from his collarbone down to his pelvis. I roughly marked out the position of his abs and the length and thickness of his forearms as well, when he turned a little bit, I also adjusted the width and shape of his hips and legs.

I already had so many ideas for the sketch I was paid to draw, I was fairly confident I could finish it tonight while the others were at that boring May-Day Ball event.

"Dude" Mark complained with a slight chuckle while watching the red fox dress himself right here in the room, "Do you mind to at least put on some underwear first when you leave the bathroom next time?"

"Oh, I´m sorry princess" Julian retorted ironically, "Never seen a dick before?"

He didn't mind them staring at all. He knew they were all doing it, but he just didn´t mind. It was not like he had something to hide anyway, he was pretty much the wet dream of every girl our age I was pretty sure.

"What are you even dressing up for?" the hyena now asked, "What´s the rush?"

"I got asked out on the ball tonight" he explained the obvious while putting on an almost royal blue pair of pants I´ve never seen on him before, "And I don't think going in jogging pants and a sweaty T-shirt is quite appropriate."

He let that stand in the room for a moment, I quickly erased a line and re-drew it.

"Who are you going with?" Mark kept on digging.

"Bailey from my class" he answered with a little smile. His friend just nodded understandingly; he knew her as well as it seemed like.

"She´s cute" Mark told him with a smirk, "And I think she´s very nice."

Julian nodded in agreement.

"Try not to mess this up, okay?" Mark snickered ironically, "Don't treat her like you treat your dormmates, okay? Be kind to her, sweaty fox!"

The red fox who was just spraying his armpits with a bit of deodorant now sent a quick breeze of the stuff into the hyena´s direction with an ironic grin, making him pay for that comment.

"Hey! Stop that you dick!"

The smell had spread through the whole room in a matter of moments, Julian just grinned shamelessly.

"Jesus! Go easy on that stuff!" Leon said while waving his arms to get rid of the smell. Then he went over towards the window and opened it so all the deodorant poised air could escape. Julian totally ignored him though.

The red fox now put on a nice white shirt that looked like it barely fit his muscular frame anymore. It seemed like he had grown a little or just got a lot more buffed since the last time he wore it. He got all the buttons closed up nevertheless and it suited him well, even if it was a little tight.

I quickly sketched out how he looked with those clothes on a clean sheet in my project file and tried to find that blue of his pants in my color picker as well. I could use all of this for my work later.

Soon later I heard Leon closing the window again. Then the tall wolf in the fancy dark-blue suit grabbed his phone that had been charging by the side of his bed and headed for the exit slowly but surely.

"You´re going already?" Gerard asked him with great interest.

The striped Jackal now got up from his matrass as well. He had been prepared for the Ball since quite a while already. His bright orange costume made him almost as visible as a safety jacket, the giant earrings he wore on both ears would make people turn their heads even more.

He didn´t even have a date for tonight, I believed he just wanted to go for the fun of it. He had tried to convince me to go as well, but I much rather wanted to stay in and work on my commissions.

Leon looked at his phone again. "I told her I would pick her up at half to seven."

"Right…" Gerard agreed, "It´s almost time, I bet the first people arrived already!"

"Have fun guys" Leon waved all of us with a little smile. Then he left and closed the door behind him.

Only a few moments later, Julian and Mark were getting themselves ready to leave as well, and then it suddenly was just Ronnie and I left in the room. It was rather quiet and peaceful all over sudden.

POV Bailey

Sasha had already left for the ball when it knocked at our door finally. I´ve been hurrying to get myself ready all this time and then it turned out I had to wait over five more minutes anyway. It seemed like Julian couldn´t really make that 30-minute deadline either, and I was actually quite glad about that. It gave me a few minutes to calm my nerves and take a few deep breaths.

My pulse was getting really fast when someone finally knocked. I had my white and blue dress on, and I still felt somewhat ridiculous about it. My dormmates all said it looked great, but their opinion didn't really matter that much to me right now. This dress still made me feel like it was way out of my league to be wearing it.

As Lucy was still typing something on her phone, I got off my matrass and went to get the door. Kana looked kinda excited about this as well, she seemed curious who it was too.

When I opened, it wasn't actually Julian. It was Lucy´s date Leon, looking really handsome as well with his dark blue suit. It really reminded of his dad at the first initial sight, he was a tall strong wolf in a nice suit after all.

"Oh, hey!" he greeted me, seemingly somewhat nervous as well but with a good and friendly spirit, "Wow, nice dress!"

"T-thank you…" I stuttered, slightly flustered about that complement.

"Is Lucy here?" he asked.

"Yeah, I´m here" she answered that question herself, appearing behind me now.

I made room for her and she stepped out of the room to greet her date herself.

"You´re looking handsome, aren't you, Romeo?" she asked him light heartedly.

"You´re talking" he told her with an awestruck expression, "You´re looking very beautiful!"

They really looked so pretty together, it wasn´t even an over-exaggeration. I felt kinda dumb for even trying to compete right now.

"Shall we?" Lucy asked with a contented smirk. He nodded.

"See you later Bails!" she told me with a smile.

"Have fun guys!" I waved after them.

I closed the door again and tried to calm myself down a little. It appeared I was not the only one thinking like that.

"You gotta stay cool, girl" Lupe now suddenly chuckled from behind me. It appeared she had noticed my nervousness.

"Huh?"

"Julian is chill. You´re looking cute, he´s gonna like it!" she told me while putting a hand on my shoulders, "Try to play it cool, okay?"

"W-what you know him?" I asked in slight surprise.

"Sure. He´s working out almost every day. I meet him in the gym sometimes."

"Do you…like him?" I asked in slight fear before I could stop my tongue.

"I mean…" she grinned, "He´s a reliable smash-buddy, so…"

"What?!"

"I mean…have you ever looked at him?" she asked while cocking an eyebrow.

A cold shiver went down my spine when I heard that. My ears were burning up and my pulse began racing.

"W-what?" I asked again, "Are you serious!"

She just kept looking at me with a cold expression a little longer, then she suddenly grinned widely.

"Come on" she chuckled, "I´m just messing with you! I barely even know him."

"Oh god" I sighed in relief.

I noticeably relaxed a little once again, I was so glad it wasn´t true. Still, that whole prank hadn't really helped me with my nerves right now.

I would have believed her if she had been serious. I could see a lot of girls find the red fox attractive. It somehow still seemed so surreal that he said yes to my invitation in the first place.

"Lupe, don't be so mean, okay?" Kana told her now, "Bailey, you´ll be alright! He didn´t want to go with you for no reason. I love that dress of yours so much, really! You just have to own it, okay?"

Lupe now actually nodded with a little smile, it seemed like she really just had been teasing.

"Y-yeah…" I said with a little sigh, "I´ll try."

Pretty much in that moment somebody else knocked on the door, I was sure it had to be him now. I opened it again and it was him this time, looking even more handsome than I had been anticipating. That mix of royal blue and white suited him so well, I hadn't expected him to have such a good sense of fashion as well. He had told me he didn´t have anything too fancy with him, but I couldn´t actually think of anything better looking he could have been wearing right now. Now I was really glad I had actually listened to Lucy´s advice.

"Wow" he said with a charismatic smile when he saw me, "You´re such a liar! You said you didn´t have a pretty dress!"

It didn´t look like he was faking it, he genuinely looked a little staggered right now. I was so glad he liked it.

"T-thanks" I told him with a smile, "Y-you´re looking so good too! Wanna go?"

He already offered me to take his hand like a true gentleman, I took it and followed him into the hallway. Before I could even look, I had closed the door behind me and we were on our way.

POV Lucy

Leon almost looked like a younger Legoshi right now. It wasn´t quite the same suit his dad wore when he was playing John Wick, but it surely reminded of it at the first initial sight. I was sure I couldn´t be the only one noticing the similarities.

His little accident in the rehearsals earlier almost wasn´t to be noticed anymore. He seemed a little exhausted though, but that was very understandable to me. Sanu had not been going easy on us today.

What I didn´t understand though, was why he was still trying to keep me on a little bit of a distance. It was just like it had been at his dad´s birthday party, it seemed like he was a little spooked of getting closer to me.

There were a lot of couples at this ball, predictably, and most of them where really close to each other. Most of them not quite as good looking at Leon and I, but still noticeably more relaxed.

Even Bailey was genuinely having fun right now. It seemed like Julian took good care of her, he wasn´t too pushy but he wasn´t too shy either.

Unlike Leon, who seemed to be searching for a way to get out of this situation with every opportunity that presented itself. I couldn´t understand why he didn´t just do it like all the other boys, dancing arm in arm with their dates, getting closer with every minute that passed, hoping to get some tongue action and eventually even more later this evening. There was sex in the air already, I couldn´t be the only one thinking like that.

But I slowly but surely got the feeling he didn´t want any of that to happen for some reason. I began doubting our relationship a little bit already.

"Maybe he didn´t enjoy kissing me? Maybe he really just did it for the show to work? Maybe he doesn´t really find me attractive and just wants to prove his ability as an actor? Maybe he had realized that I really was just a parentless girl who had wasn't coming from a high-status family like himself."

My frustration was getting worse and my thoughts became darker and darker with every minute that passed. This was just such a weird situation.

"Hey" he said with an awkward little smile, "I´m getting a little thirsty…want to get some cider maybe?"

"Uh…sure" I agreed with a sigh, slowly following him towards the buffet after he had let go off my hands.

This felt so stupid right now. It felt like he wasn´t even romantically interested in me, I was beginning to think he just did this for the purpose of status. Or as a nice gesture, maybe.

"Hey guys" somebody else suddenly greeted us. It was Hazel from our drama club as it turned out, and she had gathered around a few others from rehearsals as well already. I immediately noticed Kenji, Haruto, Kibi and that red panda girl from the art department, it seemed like neither of them went here with a date.

"Hey!" Leon greeted them back, it almost seemed like he was happy about them interrupting our togetherness.

"You feeling better from your faceplant earlier?" Kenji asked him with a friendly chuckle. The lion wore a rather casual outfit tonight, it seemed like he wasn´t here to make much of an impression. But so did most of the others as well, I guessed the ones without a date just went for the fun of it.

"Heh, yeah" Leon waved it off, "It´s fine, don't worry."

"Wow" Hazel told me excitedly, "Lucy, you look so pretty! Just where did you find that dress?"

"Oh, I found it in the shopping mall a few days ago" I engaged in a little bit of small talk myself, "I saw it and fell in love immediately. And it fits so well, I just had to get it!"

"Oh, but that must have been so expensive!" she said, gently grabbing a bit of its fabric to feel the texture.

"I´ve been saving up for a little while" I waved it off, not trying to make too big of a deal out of it, "And it wasn´t even that pricy."

"Anyway, I think you should wear this in the play as well! Maybe for the party scene at the beginning?"

"I don't know" I said with a forced chuckle, "Maybe."

I didn´t want to talk about that dress any longer, she was not exactly the person I was wearing it for.

"You´re looking nice yourself!" I gave back the complement, "That green suits you so well!"

The gazelle nodded with a humble smile, I was pretty sure she was aware of her looks though. She could easily find a cool or handsome boyfriend as well if she wanted that.

Leon and Kenji were already talking about the Romeo and Juliet play once again.

I wasn´t all that interested in chatting about the performance right now, we were talking about it the entire afternoon already. I rather just wanted to be alone with my date right now, but it seemed like my date didn't want the same thing as me.

I looked over to Bailey and Julian, they looked like the two of them lived in their own little bubble right now. Hand in hand they were slow-dancing to the music, just like many of the other couples did, apparently not at all concerned what was going on around them. They looked cute and happy, I wanted nothing more than what they had right now. Leon didn´t want that, apparently, he seemed perfectly happy talking to the drama-club crew.

This was just so hopeless and frustrating right now. My expectations for this evening have been much too high as it seemed, I should have guessed he still wasn´t ready to make it official.

POV Yuma

Even though I was making very good progress with my work, it still felt kinda lame being here in this boring room while most of my other dorm mates were at a party. I would never confess this in front of anybody, but I felt a little jealous of them right now. I always felt a little out of place at events like that, I´ve never felt like I´ve belonged in a larger group of people.

I took an experimental look over to Ronnie every now and then, he seemed a little low-spirited as well. He had headphones in and looked at his phone, I guessed he was watching a movie or tv-series online.

It´s been roughly 90 minutes since the others had left the dorm, but then the door suddenly got opened from the outside. It was Gerard as it turned out, I had not expected him to come back this early already.

"What´s wrong?" I asked in slight puzzlement, "Did you get kicked out or something?"

"Nah…" he sighed with a shake of his head, "It´s just really boring to be honest. I barely know anybody, most couples are busy with each other and a lot of the other singles have left the party as well already."

"Ahh man" I told him, "That sucks. I´m sorry."

"No" he sighed, waving it off, "Don't be. I shouldn't have been expecting so much in the first place."

I turned off the screen of my tablet for a moment and magnetically attached the pencil to its side before tossing it somewhere onto my bedsheets.

"What have you been expecting?" I asked, adding a little bit of ironic grief now, "Julian messing up his date and coming back to you once again?"

"W-what?" he asked in slight surprise.

"Come on" I grinned at him, "Something must have happened while we were in the cinema two weekends ago…right?"

"What?" he asked again, "N-no! What do you mean?"

I just tilted my head a little bit.

I had been convinced of it ever since we came back from that movie, Julian seemed by far more relaxed that evening and Gerard wasn't able to look at him with a proud little smirk. I could see Gerard doing something like that too, I had seen him stare at the handsome red fox countless times already.

"…come on, really?" I asked again, "I´m not gonna tell anybody!"

Ronnie now took his earphones out and listened to our conversation as well. I wasn´t sure how much he had heard, but I guessed from the way I smiled it probably was rather obvious anyway.

"Nothing happened there" the striped jackal waved it off again, "Julian would never let me even get close to him anyway."

"He looked so relieved when we came back from the cinema" I told him, "Has he been with a girl that afternoon then?"

"Don't know" he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

I still didn't believe him. I was convinced they did something funny with each other, it felt like Gerard was just not allowed to talk about it.

Then I had an idea.

"Come on" I told him, showing him my drawing tablet, "Let´s trade secrets, I think you´re gonna like this."

I knew him well enough, he couldn´t resist this anyway.

"What is it?" he asked, looking interested but still a little skeptical. It seemed like he did have a secret to trade after all.

With a little wink I just waved him to join me on my matrass quickly, he immediately began climbing up the ladder in his very colorful outfit.

"I´m working on a commission" I told him lowly, grabbing my tablet to unlock it.

"And?" he asked with a shrug of his shoulders.

I hesitated for a quick moment, then I showed him the sketch I had been working on.

"…and they wanted me to draw something with a red fox in it." I whispered lowly.

He now immediately grinned very widely, I knew he would like seeing it.

"Oh wow" he said lowly, "That´s accurate!"

"Don't know what you mean" I grinned.

He now smiled at me in a playful way. "I don't know what you mean either."

"Oh, I think you do" I chuckled while nudging him a little, "I´ve seen you stare at him a lot, dude."

"His ears are a little bigger" he said while pointing at that part in my drawing.

"That´s the first thing you noticed?" I chuckled while already beginning to correct it with my pen.

He sighed a little bit as he already knew what I really meant with that question.

"You probably exaggerated it a little bit."

There was the confirmation I had been waiting for. I knew my gut hadn´t been lying to me.

"It´s porn, dude" I chuckled at him, "I can exaggerate all I want."

He now punched my shoulders lightly, I guess it wasn´t all that fair teasing him with this right now.

"Are you ever going to tell him about this?" Gerard now asked with a dirty smile at me, pointing at my drawing.

"Never." I told him dryly, "This stays between us. I ain´t telling anyone about your secret either."

He nodded with a big grin that was followed by an honest re-assuring smile though. It seemed like he wasn´t all that mad about me finding out in the first place. This had lifted his mood as well after all, and I liked that for more than one reason.

"Who´s the girl?" the jackal then wanted to know, pointing at the black and grey furred vixen who was leaning herself against the tiles of the bathroom-wall in the drawing, presenting her butt and waving her tail at my Julian-based fox character.

"Don't know" I said with a shrug, "Some character my customer had made up themselves. They´re paying for this, so it´s whatever."

"She´s pretty" Gerard commented in all honesty, "I´m a little bit jealous of her though."

"Pfff" I grinned as he couldn´t stop himself from laughing anymore either. "And I thought I was the perv."

"You are a perv. Don't get me wrong, it´s quite obvious. But there is nothing wrong about that, is there?" he asked me with another nudge and a chummy little wink, "You´d be surprised how many people be just as horny as you are."

POV Bailey

He was just so perfect. He looked genuinely happy spending the night with me, he was neither ashamed to dance or get close to me and he was just as handsome up close as I had imagined.

But most importantly, he gave me every single bit of his attention. Maybe it was because I´ve caught him relieving his rage and frustration into that punching bag earlier and didn´t want me to tell anybody about it, but whatever it was in the end, he was just the sweetest gentleman ever tonight. Unlike Leon, who seemed like he rather wanted to stay in a bigger group, talking to his drama-club friends all night, Julian stayed with me the entire time.

I was so lovestruck right now, I barely even noticed what was going on around me. I just wanted him to take the lead at this point, there was literally nothing he could propose that I wouldn´t trust him with.

"Can you excuse me for a moment?" he asked me after he had finished his second glass of cider, "I´m going to the bathroom for a moment."

"Okay" I said.

"Be right back!" he waved with a little smile.

I took a short moment to myself as soon as he was out of sight. I had a lot of fun and I was excited for it to continue, but having a short moment to relax was rather convenient right now.

"Maybe he was using the opportunity to get condoms?" I thought to myself, "Maybe he already has some on his person?"

I quickly shook my head at myself for even thinking that.

"Keep in your pants girl! You´ll see what happens later anyway! Don't be so horny!"

I quickly tried to think of something else when Lucy came walking over towards me, still holding a half full glass of cider in her hands.

"Has he ditched you as well now?" she asked with quite a bit of frustration in her voice.

"W-what?" I asked with a chuckle, "No, he´s just going to the bathroom."

She nodded silently. I could feel her vibes from over here, she didn´t even have to say anything.

"Is…" I began slowly, "Is everything alright?"

"Define ´alright´" she said dryly, "He´s been avoiding me all evening."

"Avoiding?" I asked in slight surprise, "Didn´t you make out with him already?"

"Well…yeah" she sighed, "But it seems he doesn´t want to be seen in public with me. No idea what his problem is. I really wish he was more like Jules in that regard."

I just couldn't help but smile proudly right now.

"He´s so dreamy" I giggled excitedly. I didn´t want to gloat, but I just couldn´t hide my happiness either. My evening was turning out so much better than anticipated.

I took a quick look over to Leon, he still seemed perfectly happy with the conversation he was having with that lion right now.

Lucy just shook her head in frustration once again. "His dad even showed him how it´s done. And he´s still messing it up..."

Before she could even continue elaborating on that, something unexpected interrupting her.

"Hey" somebody suddenly greeted us. He was a grey wolf as well, but I haven't spoken or even met him here on campus before, "Have you joined the school just recently? I haven't met you guys here before."

"Yeah" Lucy told him, apparently not having met him before either, "We just started here."

"My name is Lucas" he introduced himself, "I´m a sophomore. Are you girls coming to the moon party as well?"

"Moon party?"

"There is a full moon tonight just by chance" he mentioned, "A few other wolves are meeting up by the garden on the roof. You wanna come too?"

Both Lucy and I were a little perplexed by that sudden offer.

"Well…" Lucy chuckled lowly, "None of us are wolves."

"You´re a maned wolf, aren't you?" he asked with a shrug of his shoulders, "And there are some other canines too anyway. So what do you say?"

There now appeared one more wolf, it seemed like he was well acquainted to the one who already talked to us.

"Oh, hey!" he said, "Nice to meet you! You´re coming to the moon party too, right?"

"Uhm…" Lucy said again. She took another quick look over to Leon, "I don't know…"

"There is other cool stuff up there too" Lucas told us with a little wink, "Come on, it won´t be long. Just meet some new people is all."

Lucy now took a short look at me and shrugged her shoulders with a little smile. "I mean…taking a quick look couldn´t hurt, right?"

"I…I think I´d rather stay here" I told her shyly, "I don't want to keep Ju-"

"Come on guys" one of the wolves now said with a sympathetic chuckle, already being on his way somewhere, expecting us to follow him, "I promise it´s not gonna take long! You don't want to be missing out on this, it´s really cool, I promise!"

Lucy now short handedly followed them and kinda pulled me with her. I had a kinda weird feeling about this already, but I didn´t want to be known as a kill-joy either. Maybe it wouldn´t be too bad after all, just a quick look and I´d be back to my really lovely and exciting evening.