Just Keep Moving (a Beastars Fanfic)

Ch17. Deal

"Popcorn and drinks!" I shouted. "Treats and drinks, all sorts!" My spirits were higher than usual, Juno having said that the play was being considered by Louis. The fact that I was anticipating a large profit today helped as well. "Fresh bread! Sandwiches!" I continued to call out.

A semi organized line had formed in front of the theatre doors, and a decent amount of people had come up to my cart to buy snacks. As expected, popcorn was the best selling product I had, but I also sold a not insignificant amount of drinks and other small snacks.

I watched as everyone slowly filed into the theater, and eventually, I stood alone outside. Picking up one of the sandwiches that hadn't been sold, I took a bite out of it as I started walking into the theater. I had some time before I would need to start preparing merchandise for after the play, and I wanted to see what the excitement was about.

As it turned out, that was a mistake. I found myself losing track of time, and I stayed until the end of the show. Hurriedly, I rushed back outside to see if there was anything to heat up, but I knew that most people wouldn't want to buy reheated food. As I thought about what I could do, however, inspiration struck. The audience members would have higher standards, but I was willing to bet that the actors and stage crew would be hungry enough to eat what I had. It would give me better chances than selling to the audience, at least.

And so, I made my way to the exit at the back of the theater building, hoping that I would be able to find the actors backstage. When I made my way to the back exit, however, I didn't see anybody else there. I turned to leave, but as I did, I heard something inside the building falling with a crash and some panicked shouting.

"Damnit, watch where you're going!" That was the mongoose, Kai. "We don't want to hurt him more!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," a voice I pegged as Legoshi's replied. "It's just hard to see where I'm going when I walk backwards. Louis is heavier than he looks."

Not long after, the entire drama club came out of the door, Legoshi and Bill working together to move Louis. When they saw me, they stopped. I started at them, and they started at me.

"Uh, don't tell anybody?" Bill asked. "We don't want anyone to know that Louis got hurt."

At the same time, Legoshi asked, "Could we use your cart to get Louis to the infirmary? I think that would be quicker than caring him like this."

"Alright," I agreed, pushing my cart over so that they could unload Louis onto it. "You're lucky most everyone already left, but I still want an explanation for how this happened."

"It was crazy, man!" an anteater whose name I'd forgotten exclaimed. "Like, one moment he was standing there, the next he just fell over on the stage! Thank the meteor the curtains closed before that, but nobody really knows how it happened."

I thought about the answer as we wheeled Louis toward the infirmary. Louis wasn't too important to me, but he would be the one to look over my play. He had a say in basically everything the club did, and I needed to get him to approve my script. Once again, I noticed my retain of thought. I hadn't even been concerned about Louis' well-being past how it affected my play, and I wondered not for the first time what kind of person that made me.

When we reached the infirmary, I waited outside with the drama club as Louis was carried inside. Everyone stood outside in absolute silence, the occasional cough or shuffling of feet being the only interruptions in the evening air. In an attempt to break the silence, I hesitantly spoke up.

"Would anybody like a sandwich?"

Nobody answered, and we continued to stand in silence until we were called into Louis' room what felt like an hour later. When we entered his cubicle, we found him unconscious in his bed, an IV attached to his arm. Not long after, Louis woke up and all the drama club members rushed to his bed.