tears of mercury | beastars

chapter 2. TO STROKE ONE'S FUR THE WRONG WAY

𖤣𖥧.𖤣𖥧𓆏𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
━━━━━━━━━━━

A bouquet of flowers, a couple of letters, and food offerings littered the area outside Lecture Room 2—a small and humble memorial from the students of the academy for Tem. (Name) stood a few meters in front of the crime scene, mindlessly staring at the large dents on the doors and the smashed windows instead.

She noticed a male tapir hunched over at the scene, seemingly reminiscing about the deceased alpaca boy. She thought nothing of it and walked away, strolling down the hallway with her school bag and hardbound books needed for her classes.

━━━━━━━━━━━

(Name) went to Sanou to discuss the play roles of their Acting Team. Tem had been part of that team and was assigned a role when he auditioned for the upcoming play, so they needed to find a replacement. She recommended someone and asked the male pelican to relay it to Louis for approval.

Now, she is on her way to the leader's room to follow up. When she arrived at the Drama Club, everyone seemed nervous and as she walked in, they immediately warned her.

"Miya-senpai, it's Kai. He went inside."

(Name) nodded and opted to wait a little longer outside. The sight of a standing topless goat caught her attention. "You're getting your measurements. You must have felt shocked or rushed, right?" she started sheepishly. "I'm the one who recommended you."

"Ah. . . Thank you for the opportunity, Senpai." he replied. She nodded in response.

"HEY, YOU GUYS!"

Students who were eavesdropping outside the leader's room were startled by Shiira's exclamation.

"Are you finished warming up?" she asked.

"Senpai. . ." a giraffe dragged out the word.

Shiira, the choreographer, expressed her disappointment, crossing her arms beneath her chest. "We were told to leave even though we're part of the Leader Team, you know?"

Mokichi, a male badger and the sound designer, also commented, "The program's in two weeks! We need to stick to practice!"

"OKAAAY," the students replied before going back to their stations.

"We need to be more focused! Tomorrow's our rehearsal, and we need to do a great job!" Shiira reminded them with enthusiasm.

"Shiira-senpai. . ." a rabbit asked with a worried expression.

"What's up?" she replied, bending down a little.

"I heard Kai was taken out of the Acting Team. That's too much. . . Did your team decide that?"

"We can't do anything about it now; it's final. . ." she answered softly, sympathizing with the student's position before the latter went back to practice quietly.

". . . (Name)-san?"

The mentioned human perked up from where she stood by the call of her name. Her eyes—a blank canvas before falling into a more approachable expression.

"Can I ask you something?" Shiira stood in front of her before continuing, "Did you know about Louis's decision? Because, this is the first time I've heard of it."

"Hmm, same as you. Sanou didn't mention anything to me," she stated. "And you know him; he's the boss." she added, humorously referring to the lead actor's position, gaining a short chuckle from the cheetah before she went back to her station.