The public was applauding. They were applauding thunderously to the scene that just unfolded on stage.
They were not supposed to. For a variety of reasons. First, because that scene was a complete improvisation and not on the script by any means imaginable. However, it was better if the public, nor the rest of the Drama Club, for that matter, knew about that. Second, because it was not the final scene, as they still had two or three scenes to go before the curtain call and the final bow for the audience.
To say everyone was rushing back and forth would be an understatement.
However, while everyone was either amazed or confused as heck, Louis, being the pro at handling public and complicated situations, was already working on damage control, trying to come up with some way to salvage this mess.
He looked at the two carnivores who were with him. Legoshi was on his feet and just standing there like a zombie. Bill was still staring at him, and so were some of the members of club who came close.
Well, you can't really blame them, since most of them never saw a hybrid like Legoshi before.
A... A hybrid like... That's it!
"Legoshi! Legoshi!" Louis called, on the second time the big, four-armed carnivore looked his way.
"H-huh? Wha...?"
"Go to my locker! There is one thing on the second shelve from top to bottom! I need you to grab it and bring it here! Now!" Louis said, and the hybrid only took a moment to obey, and he soon was rushing back to the lockers. Meanwhile, Louis was focusing on Bill.
"Bill, get ready, you are going back on stage as soon as the curtain rises!" Louis said to him and then he turned to one of the stage hands. "Kibi, get the hat of my Adler costume! Now!"
"What!?" Bill said, looking at the deer. "Louis, you can't be serious!"
"You are not done yet! You have a few more scenes to pull up, and you are going to do it!"
"Louis, we cannot go on with the play after this mess!" Bill said to him, "There is just no way!"
"Don't you dare get cold feet now, you big stinking cat!" Louis growled at Bill, getting him to shut up immediately. "You have played the role of Adler better than I ever supposed you could! The crowd liked you up there, they ACTUALLY liked you, you idiot! And they loved that scene that you two imbeciles did up there! Don't you dare to ruin this now! You are Bill the Bengal Tiger, and you will finish what you started, otherwise I'll be turning that skin of yours into a rug for my bathroom, got it!?"
Louis really knew how to put the fear of Rex on other animals. He certainly would have been the scariest guy in the world had he been born as a carnivore. At least that was Bill's impression as he heard something like that coming out of the deer's mouth while he gave him that look.
For the next minute, Louis repassed everything with Bill, telling him what to do and what to say on the next scene, and the tiger heard everything and nodded.
"We rise the curtain in two minutes, guys!" Someone said, and Louis looked to the sides.
"Dammit, where is that blasted wolf?" Louis said under his breath, and he then turned to Dom, and told him to go see what is taking Legoshi so long.
Dom nodded, and he was into the dressing rooms, where Legoshi was.
He found Legoshi, still wearing only a pair of pants, standing in there like a statue, right in front of a full-body mirror.
His mane was disheveled, and the hybrid was running a hand over his features, looking at his won reflection with a haunted expression. His lower scaly arms were limp, and he was holding something in them, which he seemed to have completely forgotten about as his upper hands were on his head and chest.
Dom looked at him for a few moments, before saying:
"Legoshi?"
The hybrid blinked, and then turned his gaze to the peafowl, who was looking at him with what, to Legoshi seemed apprehension, although it was mostly worry.
"Are you... are you okay?" Dom asked, "Louis said you were taking too long..."
Legoshi blinked, and he looked at the objects he had on his hands, the ones that Louis had told him to pick up. He offered them to Dom.
"Louis-senpai wants those..." Legoshi said, his own voice sounding disembodied to his ears. "You... you can give them to him."
Dom hesitated, but he took the two objects, taking in what they were before looking back at Legoshi.
"What about you?"
Legoshi looked at him for a moment, as if he didn't understand his question, but them, his brain told him what to answer:
"My scene is over... I will just... stay back here... for a while..."
The look on Legoshi's face was the strangest Dom ever saw. Dom wanted to ask if Legoshi was okay, but then the carnivore told him that Louis seemed to really need those things, and that he should take them to him quickly.
Hesitantly, Dom turned around and left, leaving Legoshi all alone on the dressing rooms, still with that haunted expression on his face...
Dom came back with the objects Louis wanted and handled them to the deer. When asked where was Legoshi, Dom told that he didn't seemed okay and that he decided to stay on the dressing rooms for a while.
Louis didn't had time to reflect on this, and he worked on doing what he needed to do.
I'm so glad that I didn't threw these away after last year... Louis thought to himself as he adjusted the fake antlers on Bill's head. The adhesive at the base made it easy to just fixate them into someone's head.
Soon, Bill was standing with a pair of fake deer antlers on his head.
"Now, remember." Louis said, placing his hat on bill, the openings it had allowing for the fake antlers that the tiger now had on his head to poke out of it easily. "When Els asks you where you have been, you will tell her you had to reconcile with a part of yourself you thought you had abandoned in the shadows."
"Reconcile with a part of myself I thought I abandoned in the shadows'." Bill recited. "Okay, got it... but, Louis, are you sure this is going to work?"
"I have no idea! I'm improvising, just like you idiots decided it was a good idea to do on stage!" Louis whispered to Bill, so none of the other members of the club would hear. "You imbeciles started this, now you are going to take it to the end. Now you go in there and you use that carnivore charm I didn't even knew you had to blow the audience away, you got me!? Don't you dare ruin my play right at the end!"
No way Bill could even think of disobeying when Louis said it like that. So, as the curtain rose, Bill steeled himself and went on to finish what he started.
The crowd was applauding so loud. The sound of the applause was nearly deafening.
They loved it.
They really loved the play.
And they were applauding even louder when the time for the final bow came. Everyone, including Louis and Bill, gathered in front of everyone and bowed for the audience, which cheered for all of them.
The PR goat girl was taking pictures of all of them, while Maki was looking in between them, looking for someone. However, he was not there with them.
Jack also noticed that he was not there bowing for the audience. And the lion by his side also noticed it. That was why, as soon as the curtain closed for the final time, he got up from his seat, saying a "excuse me", and went on his way.
"What were you guys thinking!?" Sheila said to both Louis and Bill. Louis might be the leading actor and the future beastar, but that didn't mean that he was above being roasted by Sheila for pulling out something like that.
"Honestly, boys..." Sano said to both. "I wish you had at least told us what you were planning so we could prepare. The last day of the play is hardly the time to make any changes to the script."
"We... wanted to help Legoshi get ready!" Bill said, "I mean, you know how awkward he is... and now I kind of know why..."
There was a brief silence after Bill said that. Truth was, they all were still reeling from what they just found out about Legoshi.
"Where is Legoshi, by the way?" Sheila asked, to what Dom was the one who said:
"Last time I saw him, he was still on the dressing rooms."
"I'll go fetch him." Louis said.
"Yeah, do it. I need to roast him as well." Sheila said, and Louis, before going, turned to Bill.
"Bill..." Louis said to him. "We will discuss the script changes better later." He even, very discreetly, showed a familiar vial to the tiger without anyone else noticing. "As well as other things..."
With this, Louis departed, leaving Bill nervous.
"Damn..." Bill said, as he finally removed the fake antlers from his head, before looking at them. Those looked real... and felt real... Bill kind of wanted to chew on them...
Meanwhile, Louis was on his way to the dressing rooms, aiming to find Legoshi.
He did find him. Crouching in a corner and sobbing softly.
Louis was worried upon seeing the hybrid sobbing.
"Legoshi?" Louis said, approaching the sobbing carnivore, curled in a ball and with his feline tail wrapping around himself. "Legoshi, are you okay?"
"They saw me..." Legoshi said, surprising Louis, who looked at him confused.
"T-they saw me, Louis! They all saw me!" Legoshi said when Louis questioned what he meant. "T-the whole school! They saw me! They saw my mane... my tail... m-my arms!"
Legoshi was referring to his extra arms, the ones covered in scales, as he looked down at them, tears falling from his face and into those scaly palms.
"T-they know, Louis." Legoshi said, sadly. "They know I am a hybrid..."
It was as if Legoshi had become aware of what he had done once his anger subsided, and the realization hit him like a speeding truck. After the years he spent on Cherryton, successfully hiding his true nature from everyone around him, he threw everything away only because he was mad at Bill.
He was so stupid!
Louis looked at Legoshi, who clearly was very emotive. The deer was good in dealing with the public and asserting his dominance over carnivores to show that he was no weakling. However, now that he saw that big carnivore in such a fragile moment before him, he had no idea how to proceed.
Both failed to notice the approach of a lion, who was making his way to the dressing rooms, as he heard the familiar voice of a hybrid...
"How could I do something so stupid...?" Legoshi said between sobs.
"Legoshi..." Louis said, finding himself in a rare moment when he didn't know what to do or say. "I-it's okay... it's all going to be okay."
"No, it's not!" Legoshi snapped, causing Louis to flinch, as well as the lion who was hearing them speak.
"It is NOT going to be okay! Now everything is going to start again!" Legoshi said, burying his face on his hands as he pulled his mane. "The name calling! The singing! The bullying! All of it! And I know the teachers will not help me! They never did! I'm gonna go back to being 'Legoshi the Chimera'! I'll never be able to live in peace in this school again now that they know what I am! My life is over! I might as well just drop out of school and go away forever!"
Louis looked at him, shocked at the hybrid, as the big carnivore shivered. Legoshi whimpered, sounding like he would be weeping any second.
"Why does it always have to happen...?" Legoshi said, "Why do I always end like this...? Why...?"
After a long, drawn out breath, he let out:
"Why could I not have been born normal?"
Louis had absolutely no answer for this, so he just looked at the hybrid.
Meanwhile, the lion who was outside of the dressing room, and about to go inside, instead gave a step back, turning around to leave.
"Legoshi..." Louis said, "I... I don't know what happened to you in the past but... it will not be like that in Cherryton... I mean, this is an elite school. It is not like this is a kindergarten where the children exclude you and call you names. People are more mature than that. And the teachers are professional. It will not be that bad. And, even if it is, you cannot just let it bring you down, you just gotta power up through the hardship and you will be okay. You are strong, you can do it."
Legoshi finally looked up. He was glaring at Louis.
"What do you know?" Legoshi asked, his voice dangerously low, and Louis felt a shiver of fear running down his spine as the hybrid looked at him.
"What can you possible know?" Legoshi got up, glaring down at the deer. "I just gotta 'power up through it'? Just like that? Easy like this? That just show how much you know."
"What can you even understand about hardship?" Legoshi asked him, towering over him with his muscular, four-armed frame. "What can you possibly understand of what is it like to be at the bottom and feel completely powerless? Just look at you! You are an herbivore, you are rich, and you are a PUREBREED! You have it easier on your life than I will ever have! You have been pampered and protected since the day you were born! You know nothing about going through hardships! You hear me? NOTHING!"
Louis flinched as he heard those words coming from Legoshi's mouth. For a moment, it looked as if he wanted to say something back. However, he said nothing. He just lowered his head.
"So, don't you dare to tell me to 'just power through it', as if that is a good advice." Legoshi hissed at him. "You know nothing of what I had to go through my whole life. Someone who had it as easy as you since birth can't possibly know."
Without saying another word to Louis, Legoshi just proceeded to put his clothes again. His lower arms crossed in front of his stomach as he put his shirt, hiding them from view. Once Legoshi also put his jacket, the volume of his lower arms under his clothes could easily be mistaken by the volume of his body, albeit it was hardly perceptible at all.
Then Legoshi just pulled his hoodie over his head and left, while Louis remained where he was, as if still thinking of what Legoshi just said.
Legoshi didn't cared about Louis anymore. He could not bring himself to care.
He just wanted to go back to his dorm and not see anyone anymore...
Once Legoshi was back on his dorm, he didn't come out anymore. He stayed inside of the dorm, refusing to come out the entire weekend. His mood was easily noticed by his roommates. Only Jack was the only one who saw the play, but the others seemed like they had already heard about what happened.
What meant that the whole rest of the school certainly knew, what made Legoshi want to close himself in even more.
"Maybe they didn't realize those were your actual arms." Jack offered to Legoshi. "Maybe they will think it was a prompt. Maybe they will think those were robot arms, and that your mane was just a hood. I mean, it is possible that they will think it was all part of the play."
Jack was trying to make Legoshi feel better, but the hybrid was no buying it. He just continued to sulk on his bed, not talking to his roommates more than necessary, and not even picking up on his phone. Actually, Legoshi turned off his phone because he wanted to avoid having to talk to anyone right now.
He just wanted to stay alone. We all want that at some moment when everything is going wrong...
He still wanted this on Monday. This time, Legoshi did asked Jack to do tell the teachers that he stayed in bed because he came down with something. The hybrid didn't feel like facing the school today. Not after exposing himself to everyone as a hybrid.
He wanted to stay out of sight.
Jack, feeling that he should give his best friend the time and space he needed, agreed to do it, and he told the teachers of every class that Legoshi was bedridden due to a cold, and it seemed that all of them took in that excuse, and some of them even asked him to give his roommate some advice to drink a lot of water and rest.
One of them, however, didn't seemed to be all that worried about Legoshi...
However, once time came for recess and lunch, Jack felt glad that Legoshi stayed on the dorm today. He thought it as soon as he saw the newspaper.
It was talking about the play, and about the surprising performance that the actors played in there, with the altered contents of the play, which made Adler not only a carnivore, but a hybrid.
It even included a citation left by Louis himself in an interview after the play.
"In this version, Adler was a broken soul. He would not be able to fully find the joy of living so long as he rejected the parts of himself. The Spirit of Shadows made him realize that. It made him realize that, if he wanted to find the joy of living, he needed to accept himself. Every part of himself. We all need to accept ourselves in order to live a full life. On the same way, by accepting each other, we can truly reach a perfect society, as only then we will be able to form a world where we all live in harmony and work together in name of a better, happier future."
That was an inspiring speech. However, that was not the only thing that people were interested in on the newspaper.
They were interested on the pictures they had of the battle scene.
Of Legoshi.
How did they get angles like that!? Was all Jack could think as he saw the pictures they have taken. Close ups of Legoshi as the hybrid was shirtless and with the swords on his four hands. Of him roaring and of him charging at Bill while swinging his swords. There was a photo of him facing Louis with his sword, and even a photo of him on his knees crying.
The photos were so clear that it was possible to see every detail. There was no way anyone could think that the arms and mane were just prompts.
"Man, what a freak." Said a girl as she and her friends looked at the picture of the wolf. "He really has form arms!"
"Why are they scaly?"
"Man, I wish I had gone to the play..." Said one of them, to what the other one, a donkey, said:
"Oh, I went."
"Really? How was it?"
"It was awesome! There was a lot of kicking and punching as the monster swung his swords!" She said. Jack, who was hearing it, knew instantly that she was referring to Legoshi when she said "monster".
"Then he started going at the tiger! And then the monster sprouted wings from his back and flew over Louis and the tiger while spitting fireballs!"
The two girls who were hearing this seemed marveled, and they both now were really wishing they had gone to the play. Jack, on his end, could only roll his eyes and shake his head.
He had been hearing all shorts of rumors like that. Rumors of what went on the play, and of things that may or may not have happened. And of thing that there was no way could have happened, but the people who heard still found a way to believe.
"Seriously?" Jack asked to himself in a low voice. "They are making it sound like a freaking manga or a second-rate action anime. Now they are just making up stuff as it goes. Does no one cares about reality anymore?"
As Jack was going his way, now going back to his dorm after a whole day of class, he was stopped by someone getting on his way.
"Uhh, maybe I help you?" Jack asked to the wolf, who looked very intently at him.
"Where is that freak?"
"Excuse me?"
"That freak friend of yours." The wolf asked, "Haven't seen him all day. What, is he hiding?"
"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Jack asked, not liking the things this wolf was saying.
"Name's Maki." The wolf said, introducing himself, but without a hint of respect for the person he was talking with. "So? What about the freak?"
"Stop calling him that!" Jack said to him, not liking someone referring to him like that. Maki only glared at him, as Jack explained that Legoshi was in bed because he got a cold during the weekend.
"Is that so?" Maki said, looking at the dog as if trying to see through him. Jack was starting to get nervous, when the wolf simply shrugged.
"Well, maybe it is for the better." Maki said, "A thing like that better stay out of sight and out of mind as much as possible."
This was all that Maki said, before going his way. Jack glared at him as he departed. He barely even knew this Maki, but he already had a very intense dislike towards him...
Without thinking about him much longer, Jack made his way back to the dorm, where he found Legoshi shirtless and sweaty.
Apparently, Legoshi kept himself busy all morning by exercising. He did squats. He did twists. He did sit-ups. He did pushups, first with his upper arms and then with his lower ones. The whole shebang. As a result, he had worked quite the sweat when Jack finally came back to check on him.
"So?" Legoshi asked, as they both sat on the bed. "Is everyone talking about me?"
Jack felt like lying. He felt like telling Legoshi that they were more interested on the play and that they were barely even mentioning him. However, he knew that Legoshi would not buy it. If anything, this would only make the hybrid upset at Jack for trying to lie to him. So, Jack just told him the facts: that his performance on the play really surprised everyone, and that his appearance surprised them just as much, and that they were talking about it.
Legoshi was not surprised. I mean, come on, he was a jacket four-armed wolf with a mane! Of course they would talk.
Either Legoshi liked or not, they were definitely going to talk.
The hybrid sighed as he looked down.
This was predictable.
Of course, this was going to happen. Legoshi thought about it as he ate the lunch that Jack brought to him, the egg sandwiches he loved so much. All the while, Legoshi was seriously considering dropping out. Just leaving the school behind and try homeschooling for a change, or maybe just go out in the world and try to make a living as he was now. He only had two more years left, anyways. Dropping out now or on the following year would not make that much of a difference at this stage.
Legoshi just knew that he needed to leave the school before things got worse. Before everyone had a chance to turn on him...
Legoshi continued to eat in silence, even as there was a knock on the door. Jack was the one who went to answer, to see who was the one who was knocking, and he was in for a surprise.
"Uhhh, Legoshi?" Jack said, as he looked who was on the other side of the door.
"What?" Legoshi asked, to what Jack said:
"There is someone here to see you."
Legoshi looked up just as who was at the door made their way into the dorm, and the hybrid was as surprised as Jack for seeing who it was.
Back in Drama Club, everyone was doing what they needed to do in order to fulfill their duties. The play of Adler was done, so they were a lot less busy than they were on the past days, but they still had a lot to do for the rest of the year.
The work of a good club never ends, after all. Everyone had something to do.
"Has anyone seem Legoshi?" Dom asked, as he did not saw the carnivore in question today. No one did.
And some of them were more than a bit worried with him.
Even Bill would be worried about Legoshi, had he not been so worried about himself when Louis called him to his office to have a talk.
"You bought it from an upper-class student, you say?" Louis said to the tiger as he held the vial with blood up. "Who?"
Bill didn't answer to that. He was not going to rat out on another carnivore just to save his own skin.
"Well, that's admirable of you." Louis said to him, "However, it is made much less admirable for the fact that you carry herbivore blood on your pocket. Of course, I never expected you to have Legoshi's morals, but I certainly expected you to take your herbivore clubmates in consideration."
Bill felt like groaning. There was nothing worse than being admonished by an herbivore half his size. However, he could do nothing as Louis continued to talk to him about the blood.
"You are really not going to tell me who you bought it from? Or at least their species?" Louis asked, "You know, if there is someone going around the school selling herbivore blood to carnivores to try and get them addicted, this could be a serious matter."
"I'm not a snitch." Bill said simply, and it was clear to Louis that he would not be speaking. Louis sighed, as he decided to leave this matter for latter, as there was another matter that was very much important: the fact that Bill and Legoshi nearly ruined the play out of their personal spite.
"And it was all because Legoshi got angry at you after finding out about the blood, right?" Louis asked, and Bill admitted that it was.
"But he provoked me too!" Bill said, "He called me a domestic pussycat! That is not something you say to a feline! Especially if you are not one!"
"Yes, I assume..." Louis said, "But, Legoshi is part feline."
A silence followed those words.
"Yeah... he is, isn't he?" Bill said, looking down. He could still remember Legoshi's appearance. He was left reeling the entire weekend because of it. And he had the impression that some of the Drama Club members also were.
"And the whole school knows now." Louis said, as he pulled something else, from under the desk. The newspaper. He tosses it for Bill to see, right on the page that showed the pictures of Legoshi.
Bill looked at those. He could still not believe that Legoshi was a hybrid. He never had any idea...
"That explains why he never changed clothes with the rest of us..." Bill said, looking at the pictures.
"That is all you have to say, Bill?" Louis asked, and Bill was confused at this.
"Look at those pictures, Bill." Louis said, gesturing to the newspaper. "Take a good look at them."
Bill did, and he looked at the pictures in there. He didn't get what Louis was talking about. They were pictures of Legoshi as he and Bill fought. They got some nice shots of him, roaring with those four swords on his hands as he charged, and they even captured the audience behind him looking amazed... wait.
The audience was behind Legoshi?
But... how could that be!?
"They got the audience!" Bill said, as he realized that. "But, that's not possible! If they were sitting in the audience, then the audience would not have appeared on the photos, no matter the angle they used!"
"Well, that's obvious, ain't it?" Louis said drily. "Look better at the photos thought. Look at the angles. If the person sitting on the audience was taking those pictures, then they would have been in an ascending angle, as they lifted the camera to catch the actors on stage. But the angles of those pictures are not like that. And some of them are too clear to have been taken using the zoom from the audience, anyways."
Bill continued to look at the pictures, and he realized that Louis was right!
"They could not have taken pictures like that sitting in the audience." Louis concluded. "There is only one explanation: whoever took these pictures was on the stage."
Bill blinked.
"W-what?" Bill said, "B-but how!? There was no one on stage other than us! We would have seen them! And so would everyone else!"
Louis nodded, as he crossed his fingers before his muzzle.
"I have a theory..."
However, before Louis could share his theory with Bill, there was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" Louis said, impatient. The answer came in the form of a familiar voice.
"Louis-senpai? Is Bill there with you?"
It was Legoshi!
"Come in." Louis said, and the door opened, and the familiar visage of the hooded carnivore walked in.
Followed by two adults, one male and the other female, which both Louis and Bill never saw before.
"Huh, who are you?" Bill asked, looking at the two of them in surprise. The male adult looked at the tiger and at the deer.
"Bill and Louis, I presume?" He said, and the two students could only confirm that it was them.
The male nodded and then turned to the hybrid.
"Legoshi..." He said, and the hybrid looked at him, before looking back at his two clubmates.
Then, he got on his knees.
"Bill, Louis..." He said, and then he placed his hands on the ground, bowing to them. "I am sorry."
This, of course, surprised the two.
"I'm sorry for what happened on stage! I was out of line!" Legoshi said, as he bowed to the two of them, his head so low that his forehead was almost touching the ground. "Bill, I am sorry for calling you that! I had no right too! I'm very sorry! And Louis, I am sorry I disrespected you! You are my senpai and I should have been more respectful when talking to you! Please, please, forgive me!"
Bill and Louis could only look in surprise at Legoshi, while the two adults stood by the side of the groveling hybrid as he apologized. The male, in particular, had a serious expression on his face as he oversaw the hybrid's apology to the two.
After an awkward moment, which ended up Bill and Louis both accepting Legoshi's apology...
"I was out of line too." Bill admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "I should not have punched you, Legoshi... I should not have called you weird either. Sorry for that."
Louis, on his end, simply said that Legoshi was forgiven, and that he hoped something like that didn't happened again.
"It won't..." Legoshi said, somewhat sadly, as he got up on his feet, and bowed one last time.
"It was nice being part of a club with you two... goodbye."
This surprised the two, as they watched as Legoshi and the two adults were making their way to the door, getting out of the office and being greeted by Sano-sensei.
"Oh! Hello there." The pelican said to the three of them as they made their way out of Louis' office.
"Legoshi, you are late for club." Sano said to the hybrid. "I heard from some teachers that you were sick... and, who are those two with you?"
There was a brief silence. Legoshi noticed that all of Drama Club was currently looking his way.
The hybrid simply said:
"They are my parents."
"Oh?" Sano said, looking at the two. Then, the male lion said, as he adjusted his glasses.
"Yes, indeed. Sorry for intruding in your club, that was rude of us."
The lion then made the introductions.
"My name is Ibuki. This is my wife, Leano. Legoshi is our son."