Beastars: A Steep Fall From Light

Chapter 17: Secrets, Skeletons . . . and Murder

Do you know how the Back Alley Market came to be? It was formed by carnivores as a means for them to fulfill their hunger for flesh. Meat consumption is and has always been illegal since carnivores and herbivores started living together, however it remained a biological fact that carnivores needed flesh to eat. As such, organizations were formed to keep these happenings hidden from the public eye. Officials were paid off to turn a blind eye, and closed casket funerals became more prominent at burials. Apparently there was a slew of casket hinges that, for one reason or another, failed to budge. And every now and then, organ donations would be lost in transit, or disappear entirely due to poor record keeping. The meat business became the biggest illegal empire in the world, taking in more money than illegal drugs and arms combined. And wherever money was seen being made, individuals flocked to take part in the profit.

No one knows who formed the first organization. In all cities, these groups/individuals held little to no power and were usually uprooted within a year or two, with the next powerful meat dealer taking over the market. However in Cherryton, the organizations seemed impossible to stop. Though they were, without question, the most volatile and violent of organizations, with gang wars breaking out almost every year, whenever a group was arrested, given proper evidence was found, they were always back on the street within a month. The only thing that seemed to stop the yakuza gangs, were the other yakuza when they killed each other in territory disputes. There was, without a doubt, a guardian angel, or demon, that kept the meat market in the Back Alley booming. Research done after the Back Alley Market was torn down showed that the yakuza clans only kept fifty percent of their yearly earnings. The other half seemed to vanish into businesses that didn't exist. In the end, there was a total of 900,000,000,000,000,000 yen worth of currency that had disappeared from global circulation. The recipient of this missing money was never found.

Around the same time that the yakuza started to bury their foundations, a very prominent organization began to grow from the ground. A collection of herbivore run businesses that joined together under one collective leader to share profit. To be honest the president had bought out the other businesses, but allowed the owners complete autonomy. The buyer was Orinosuke Uchida, the founder of the Horns Conglomerate. The company made it its mission to combat the threat of the illegal meat industry. The herbivores poured money into the efforts made against the gangs in order to protect their own from the growing danger. They too paid off lawyers and judges to get the verdict that they wanted. In the early days of both sides, there was much, figurative and literal, butting of heads as both powerful organizations paid off politicians and members of law enforcement to tamper with evidence, turn a blind eye, etc. Suffice to say that neither organization was perfectly legal in their methods, though the Horns Conglomerate was better at covering their tracks.

The conglomerate continued to fight the threat of the yakuza, but around the time that Hayato Hitarashi was elected to be the organization's president, their little war seemed to subside.

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"I'm offering you a deal that'll make you rich," the snake said. "And, it'll put an end to this foolish little 'war' between us."

"I'm listening," Hayato responded, eyeing the two large carnivores that stood on either side of the black necked spitting cobra. The snake didn't need the protection. They were just there for intimidation. They were in Hayato's building in his office, so that was protection enough for him.

"The offer is, or should be, simple to understand."

"I wait with baited breath," the chairman interrupted unenthusiastically.