Every club had important works to do. Among them, was the journalism club. Also referred by the students as their PR club, or as just as the school's newspaper.

And the club was having a meeting right on that evening. And the head of the newspaper was yelling at all the other members.

It was actually quite comic, seeing a bunch of other animals, one of them a literal elephant, being admonish by a mouse with a surprisingly loud voice.

"How come you didn't take a single picture of his face!?" The mouse said, pointing at the pictures they placed on the table before him. Pictures of the play that happened just a few hours ago.

Pictures of the ending scene.

Or, what was supposed to be the ending scene.

Adler was a classic for the school. Everyone knew the play. Well, save for the freshmen, who were watching it for the first time. Everyone knew that it was supposed to end with the hero, the title character grim reaper, standing proudly after completing his quest.

This time, however, it had a different ending. A tragic ending. One that ended with the hero fallen while the damsel wept over him, thanking him for everything he did for her and for teaching her the value of life.

That was an ending worth of a tragedy written by the famous scriptwriter Bazuzu the Bearded Dragon. And having the main character, the leading actor, looking fallen and defeated at the end of a great struggle, was certainly not what people had been expecting.

The two members of the journal that attended were sure to take as much pictures as they could, and they got some pretty good angles. They were pretty sure that those pictures would make their boss happy.

They didn't.

"No one is interested in looking at a fake skull on the first page!" The mouse said to them. "They want the face of the deer beneath it! They want the face of Louis-senpai! You should know that!"

The goat who took the pictures looked down.

"And you!" The mouse said, pointing at the animal who was standing by her side. This was a new member of the school's journal. The chameleon had forest-green scales and was wearing standard school uniform, his black eyes looking at his own shoes as he had his hands together before his body.

"You said you wanted to 'get all of the best pictures for the school', and this is the best you can get!?" The mouse demanded, making the chameleon flinch. "You said you wanted to 'chase after the truth and show it to the world', and you can't even take a picture of a deer's face!? Are you kidding me!? I knew I should never have accepted a freshman who can barely handle a camera in my journal!"

"Boss, please, don't be so harsh on Lucas." The goat said, causing the mouse to turn his head to her. "He did caught some pretty good shots, considering he never used a camera before." She said, and Lucas, the chameleon, wanted to say that he did handled a camera before. However, it was of a different, lighter model than the ones they used.

However, he remained silent while his senpai defended him.

"It was not our fault that Louis was wearing a mask. He didn't took it of one time during the entire play." She said, to what the mouse said back:

"Well, he was supposed to take it off after the play when he and the other actors made the final bow, wasn't he!? Are you telling me that he kept the mask even when he was bowing for the audience?"

The goat and the chameleon both shared a look, and that was when the chameleon decided to say:

"Louis wasn't with the other actors during the final bow. Everyone else was there, but the deer was nowhere to be seen."

"WHAT!?" The mouse said, so loud that someone could think it was a bull screaming.

"Louis-senpai, the school's future beastar, the leading actor of drama club and the very star of the Adler play for the last three years was not there to make the final bow!?" He demanded of them. "I just don't buy it!"

He honestly didn't believe it. Not even when the goat confirmed that Louis had, indeed, not been there when the actors made their final bow.

"Where was Louis, then!?"

Louis was laying on a bed.

It seemed to be all he could do now.

Around him, where all of the other members of the club, as well as Sano-sensei, their supervisor and president. Louis had his eyes closed, as not to look at any of them, but he knew they were all around him, looking at him.

However, those were not looks of anger and disappointment at him for having stumbled down and ruined the end of the play. Those were looks of worry, along with some pity for his condition on having twisted his ankle.

Those were somehow even worse.

"Louis, why didn't you told us you were hurt?" Sano asked him, and Sheila was with him:

"He is right, Louis. If your ankle was hurting, you should have told us. We could have found an understudy to take your place as Adler while you recovered, or at least have taken you to see the nurse earlier. You didn't had to keep doing things with a hurt ankle and make it even worse!"

Louis said nothing to this. He just kept laying there, looking at the ceiling while everyone looked at him.

"How did you even twisted your ankle?" Sano asked, and Louis remained silent for a few moments at this, while Zoe and Legoshi both looked down at this, hoping no one would look their way.

"I was rehearsing one of the fighting scenes on my own." Louis said, "I made a misstep and ended up getting my ankle twisted. It was not hurting so much at the time, so I just ignored it."

This, of course, did not sit well with the pelican and cheetah, who asked Louis why he didn't look for help when he noticed it was hurting. Louis said nothing, but the answer was clear, he was powering up through the pain in order to perform on the play.

He didn't want to admit that his ankle was hurting. Everyone knew how much Louis hated to feel weak. It was obvious that he wasn't liking having everyone worried with him as they all stood around his bed.

However, there was a much more pressing matter than Louis' pride.

"What about the play?" Kibi asked, "There is still the second show to make in a few days, and we cannot do it without Louis."

"Well, we actually can." Fudge said, "We just need to find someone to play Adler on his place."

Most of the drama club members glared at Fudge, some of them having a word or two to say to him about his lack of tact. However, Louis himself said:

"He is right."

Everyone turned their eyes to him.

"We cannot cancel the play." Louis said in all seriousness, looking at the ceiling but not at the other members of the club. "It never has happened before since we started performing the play. It cannot start now because of me."

Everyone took in the words that Louis said, as well as how serious he looked, and no one felt like contradicting him.

"So...?" Ellie asked, as she looked at Louis, who was in the bed. After a brief silence, Louis spoke:

"Bill."

Everyone looked at the tiger, who perked at hearing the deer say his name.

"You know all of the lines, and you have the best sword skills of the actor pool." Louis said, his voice not showing any emotion. "You will be Adler on the second play."

Louis finally looked at somewhere that was not the ceiling. He looked straight in the tiger's eyes.

"Don't mess this up."

Bill looked at him for a while, for a moment seeming to be nervous, but then, in true Bill fashion, he just said that he would do it and would "blow everyone away". After this, Louis asked everyone to leave, what they all did, after a bit of hesitation, since they were all worried about him.

"I'll be fine." Louis said to them, wanting them just to leave him alone now. However, as they were leaving...

"Legoshi." Louis said, causing the carnivore whose name he spoke to stop dead on his tracks.

"You stay... I want to have a word with you."

So, with Louis request, Legoshi stayed behind while everyone else, including Sano, left the room.

For a long moment, Legoshi stood by the side of the bed, while Louis continued to look at the ceiling above his bed. The silence was quite unnerving for the big carnivore, so he decided to break it.

"Louis-senpai..."

"The curtain was supposed to have come down." Louis said, cutting the hybrid before he could finish it.

"Hm?"

"The curtain was supposed to come down when I made the final pose." Louis said. "I was holding on the entire play, just waiting for the curtain to come down. But it didn't. I stood there like an idiot waiting for the curtain to be lowered, my ankle killing me until I couldn't hold it anymore and I came down."

There was a moment more of silence, before Louis resumed:

"Gotta say, for a moment I thought the play was ruined right at the ending... I gotta hand it to Ellie, it was her quick thinking that saved the play. I guess an alternative tragic ending is better than a complete flop."

Legoshi said nothing.

"Did you had anything to do with it?" Louis finally asked, and this surprised Legoshi.

"What?"

Louis looked in direction to the carnivore, his eyes piercing.

"You were there with the rest of the stage hands, weren't you?" Louis asked to Legoshi, nearly sounding as if he was making an accusation. His next words actually did sounded like an accusation. Or every close to it.

"It was you who held the curtain up?" Louis asked again, "Were you still mad at me for what happened in the office, and you did that out of spite?"

Legoshi was in shock at the sudden accusation. The hybrid vehemently denied it. He told Louis he was not even the one controlling the curtains when that happened. He was not sure if Louis believed him or not, as the deer simply looked at him for a few more moments before scoffing and going back to looking at the ceiling.

"I still remember how angry you looked back then." Louis said. There was no anger on his voice. "First time you actually bared your fangs at me..."

Legoshi looked down, ashamed of himself for the way he snapped.

"Louis, I..."

"I wanted you to show me your fangs." Louis said to the carnivore. "I wanted you to show me what you hid. I wanted to see the side of yourself you were trying so hard to pretend that didn't existed... guess I did, didn't I?"

Louis then chuckled.

"You got a nice mane, by the way."

Legoshi tensed as he heard that.

"Now, I'm not going to ask stupid questions." Louis said, "I'm not going to ask why a wolf has a mane. I think the answer is pretty obvious."

He looked Legoshi's way once more.

"You are not a wolf." Louis said. "Not a purebred one, that is." It was not a question. The deer was not asking, because he already knew. He was simply stating what he knew to be a fact.

Legoshi said nothing in return, as he curved his back more, as if he was trying to make himself look even smaller.

"Your mother? Or your father?" Louis asked, and Legoshi took a few moments to realize that Louis was asking him which one of his parents he inherited the mane from.

"My dad." Legoshi said in return. "He is a Masai lion."

Louis said nothing, and he went back to look at the ceiling.

"Well, that does explains a lot." The deer said casually. "It certainly explains your size. It is definitely not normal for a gray wolf. But it would be for a lion."

Legoshi still said nothing, and only continued to look down.

"You had a hard time growing up." Louis said. Also not a question. "I remember what you said. Kids picked up on you for being mixed species, didn't they?"

Legoshi could only answer with "yes". To what Louis said:

"You hate me, don't you?" This question caught Legoshi off guard.

"You hate me for being a purebred like the kids who hurt you, isn't that right?"

"Louis..." Legoshi said, but the deer didn't let him finish.

"Leave." Louis said with a neutral voice. "I need to rest."

Legoshi wanted to talk with him more, but he knew that Louis didn't wanted to talk with him now. Once more, Legoshi was leaving, when Louis said:

"I keep what I said before." This caused Legoshi to stop and look over his shoulder. "I still want you to show me that strength of yours one of those days... hybrid."

Legoshi flinched as he heard that, and he then made his way out of the infirmary, leaving Louis alone to reflect on things, before he eventually closed his eyes and fell to a dreamless slumber.

The news of Louis being on the infirmary for having hurt his ankle spread like wildfire on the school.

I mean, come on, he was their future beastar! Of course him being hurt was a big deal.

Officially, Louis had gotten hurt during a "rehearsal accident". Some people were saying that one of the carnivores who played the bad guys went too rough on him and ended up hurting him for real. This meant that some of the carnivores of the Drama Club were receiving some dirty looks from the herbivores of the school.

It was upsetting, but they didn't had time to think about it. They still needed another show to make, and they had to adapt the costumes and the script to accommodate a carnivore grim reaper in place of an herbivore one.

Bill, on his end, was pretty pumped up.

He had always wanted to be the main character on a play, since he started on Drama Club. But Louis, of course, always put him to play a secondary character or, in case of the Adler play, a villain.

This time he was finally going to play the hero of the story! That was enough to put Bill on an unusually good mood. Not that he was antisocial or grumpy all the time. Actually, some would even say that Bill was upbeat most of the time, even though Legoshi considered him a jerk.

Today, however, he was in a gooder mood than usual, as he would finally be playing the hero of the story, like he always wanted.

"But, we will need someone to play the villain." Sano said to Bill as they discussed how he needed to have his measurements taken for the Adler costume. Bill agreed with him. And Bill's replacement could not be just anyone.

They needed to know the lines and the place, they needed to be strong and know how to handle a sword, and they needed to be big and imposing, as well as intimidating.

They didn't had as many actors on the pool, but there was a carnivore on the club that fit in those checkboxes nicely.

Legoshi really wished they had not looked his way.

Him? On stage? In front of everyone?

That thought was enough to make him more than a little uncomfortable. The hybrid was sure not keen on doing it.

"Oh, come on, Legoshi!" Bill said, putting an arm around the other carnivore and pulling him closer, much to the hybrid's discomfort.

"Just give it a try! Maybe you will make for a good actor, who knows?" Bill said, smiling friendly at Legoshi. Normally they were both at odds most of the time, but not today. Bill was in a very good mood, and this translated to his attitude towards Legoshi. There was not a hint of the usual teasing he would do towards the hooded carnivore.

Maybe it was Bill's unusually nice attitude, or maybe it was the fact that practically everyone who was in the Club at that moment was looking Legoshi's way, waiting for the carnivore's answer to the proposition of playing the villain of the story.

Eventually, Legoshi said he would do it, albeit reluctantly. Amazing what sheer peer pressure, even if just perceived, could do to a person.

So, for the rest of the day, Legoshi, who usually only handled the electrical equipment and the light beams, was placed in the actor pool. He rehearsed lines and practiced the battle scenes with Bill.

Everyone talked on how good Legoshi was with the sword, as his movements were fast and very fluid, and he could swing that sword hard and deliver quite powerful blows.

"You are almost as good at it as Bill!" Said Kibi in awe as he saw how well Legoshi could swordfight. Bill, on his end:

"Yeah, you can do it decently enough. Surely you can put on a good show for the audience. Just remember that I'm the one who wins at the end, right?"

Bill winked at him, but Legoshi had the impression that there was a veiled threat on the way Bill said that. As if he was warning Legoshi to hold back and not try to change the script to win in the end.

Truth was, Legoshi was already holding back as they rehearsed.

His grandpa and dad both taught him how to handle swords, and he has had combat training for over a decade now. He was a very skilled fighter. More so than Bill. If Legoshi was really going all out, he was pretty sure that he would overpower Bill. However, this was just a play, so he was holding back quite a bit.

Or a lot.

Although he did wish he could stop holding back just a little bit, with how annoying Bill was being. It seemed that the tiger could be irritating to Legoshi, either was him in a good or bad mood, even though Legoshi knew that he didn't to it on purpose most of the time, and there were many times in which Bill was actually enjoyable to be around.

He was just too much of a creep sometimes.

After a long day of training, everyone was dismissed from Drama, with Sano telling them to keep the good work and be ready for the second show in just a few days, and he advised Legoshi to rehearse his lines, what the hybrid said that he would.

Once more, Legoshi was the last one to change, as he had to wait until everyone was gone from the changing room before he could even think about removing his clothes.

"Still insecure about those flabby arms and big belly?" Bill asked, as he still had the misconception of Legoshi wearing the hoodie to hide being fat. "Well, let's hope the guys give you an outfit that doesn't makes you look like a barrel wearing a shirt, ha ha!"

Bill left after this, and Legoshi finally was able to change, after making sure no one was coming back. He still felt like telling Bill he was not fat. That he just didn't wanted them to see his mane. His scales...

Louis... Louis saw his mane.

He already knew Legoshi's secret.

However, he didn't seem like he minded.

At least he wasn't treating Legoshi any different than he always did. Louis had always been the type to pass this impression that he was angry at Legoshi, and that didn't change when he found out about Legoshi's mixed heritage when he saw his mane.

And Louis saw his mane because Legoshi snapped and shook him violently.

He wasn't supposed to be violent with an herbivore. His father always told him so...

Legoshi groaned as he finished changing, pulling his hoodie all the way and making sure it was tight over his head and covering his mane before he went his way back to his dorm, wanting to get in there as fast as possible.

On his way there, Legoshi reflected on everything that happened lately.

Tem's death. The episode in the auditorium with Els as he tried to give her Tem's letter and he ended up losing control and scaring her even more before giving her the letter. The night when Louis made him go with him and Zoe after curfew to the auditorium, and he ended up meeting that crying bunny girl by the fountain, before being called by a frantic Zoe to help Louis who had fallen from the stage (that was how he actually hurt his ankle, and Legoshi knew that for sure now). Then he met the bunny girl again, and their meeting ended in Legoshi losing control and pushing her away violently (he still felt awful because of it). Then he had a meeting with Louis on his office, in which the deer confronted him, and Legoshi ended up losing control and yelling at him while accidentally giving away his nature as a hybrid to the deer.

Legoshi had been losing control a lot lately.

But that was not his fault. It was just... he could not stop remembering the bad times. They just made him so angry and frustrated. So sad. He could not help but lose control.

It was not his fault. He was not a bad person... was he?

Maybe he was just under stress. What was it that his dad said? Stress could make it harder to keep control over yourself? He said something like that. Legoshi has been under stress lately, ever since Tem's death. He was very close to Legoshi, and his death really shook him.

And now Legoshi would have to perform in front of the whole school. The idea of all those eyes looking his way made him feel more than a little nervous.

Man, he really should have said no while he still had the chance...

Legoshi was distracted while thinking that, as he continued his way to his dorm, and he failed to notice that there was another wolf with his eyes on him.

The wolf with reddish-gray fur had been with his eyes on Legoshi for a while now, and the other carnivore remained completely unaware of this, as this wolf was sure to stay downwind so he would not pick up his scent and keep a safe distance while following him.

"Maki!" said the voice, surprising the wolf and making him turn around. Another, slightly taller wolf with greenish fur was looking at him. He seemed worried.

"You still going after Legoku?" Said the other wolf, as Maki looked around the corner, only to find out that the carnivore he had been following was out of sight now. This was frustrating for Maki.

"Dude, he is on the same building as us." The other wolf said. "His dorm is on the floor above ours. You can just go and talk to him if you are so interested on him. You don't need to go all stalker and follow him around, people will start talking if you keep going like that."

"I'm telling you, there is something off about that guy!" Maki insisted, as he reflected on the bigger, hood-wearing carnivore. "The way he looks, the way he walks... his scent. Don't you think his scent is strange, Dupi?"

The greenish wolf, Dupi, shook his head.

"Honestly, I can hardly even feel his scent over that cologne he wears. Seriously, that thing is so strong I don't know how he can even stand it, let alone drench himself in it like he does. Look, it is late, and we finished with our karate club, so can we just go back to our dorm? I just wanna drop on my bed and sleep."

With no choice but to do as his friend wanted, Maki went along with Dupi. However, he still felt that there was something off about that Lego-guy. Something about him just didn't add up...

Once he was back on his dorm, Legoshi could finally relax. After another bath, which was unpleasant, but needed to get the smell of his cologne off his body, Legoshi was able to relax while wearing only slacks. He didn't minded showing his naked torso to his roomates, they all knew his secret already, so he didn't minded showing his mane and scales to them.

As Sano-sensei suggested, Legoshi rehearsed the line she would be speaking for the play on the free time he had. This, of course, meant that his friends immediately found out how he would be performing on the play.

"You will be on stage? That's awesome, Legoshi!" Jack said, his tail wagging as he looked at his hybrid friend, who didn't really share of his excitation. Legoshi insisted that he was only doing this for the rest of the club, who asked him to do it, but Jack seemed convinced that this was a good thing for Legoshi, and he said he would be on the front row cheering for him.

Legoshi actually felt a little more secure with the idea of his friend being there. Not much, but he did, and he thanked Jack for it, before going back to rehearsing his lines, with Jack looking at him all the time.

That night, everyone was asleep, but not Jack. The dog had to make a phone-call before sleeping. There was a person whom he needed to talk with: Legoshi's dad.

"Yeah, Legoshi will be on stage for the Adler play." Jack said to the lion on the other side of the phone. He was careful to keep his voice down as not to disturb his sleeping friends, including the hybrid himself.

"It is a Drama Club's classic about a grim reaper who has to reap the soul of a woman but falls in love with her and they discover the joy of living together. Legoshi will be playing one of the main villains." Jack said to him, "He only appears on a single scene, but he is a pretty important character. Legoshi will be on stage in front of everyone! He is finally getting through his awkwardness. This is great, isn't it?"

The dog was excited to know that Legoshi was finally working the courage to come a little more out of his shell. Okay, maybe he had good reasons to stay there, but Jack knew that he was unhappy living like this, and he wanted Legoshi to be a little more confident, and maybe this play would be just what he needed him.

Apparently, the lion on the other side thought the same, for he said something to the dog.

"Wait, really? You will come to see the play too?" Jack said in surprise, almost raising his voice as he said so. "That's great! Legoshi is already asleep, but I'll tell him in the morning... huh? Not tell him? Oh! Right, you want to be a surprise! Okay, I'll keep it a secret."

With this, the lion thanked Jack for having told him and bid him goodnight, and Jack hang up the phone. His tail was wagging as he looked at his sleeping friend.

He could hardly wait for Friday to arrive...