Beastalkers- a Beastars alternate story

Chapter 1 - The true virtuoso spirit

I'll try to recall everything that happened, but it was all a few months ago, so everything might not be exact. The first thing that comes to mind is the day I first joined the Gardening Club in Cherryton. That afternoon, I talked to my friend.

~o~

"So Tristina," I asked. The fire alarms were blaring throughout the area. "How much did you end up owing to the school?"

"Around 120,000 yen. Who knew desks could be so damn expensive?"

"Well you wouldn't have had to pay if you didn't set two desks on fire."

"At least I can pay it back with labor." She yawned, letting her canines gleam in the sun.

"What're you doing for the school again?"

"I gotta work for the school store. Had to give up the anime club though." My watch started to beep. "What's that alarm for?"

"Oh it means that I'm late for gardening." I turned off the beeps. We sat in silence for a second. Tristina's face shifted to confusion, then to acceptance. The fire alarms stopped. The breeze was cool. Tristina took a granola bar out of her bag and started eating. A tumbleweed drifted by, an out of breath drama club student chasing after it.

"Are you gonna go to your club?" Her mouth was still full.

"Oh shit I should probably do that." I frantically gathered my belongings and rushed to the school. "See ya!"

"Arrivederci, dumbass." She went back to eating her Granola bar.

~0~

I ran to the rooftop. There were five animals seated there, not including myself.

"Welcome to the gardening club!" a chicken exclaimed. "I'm Kevin and I'm the president."

"I'm Mallory and I'm a first year student." I replied. "It's nice to meet you." I scanned the rooftop. That's when I noticed a sixth student, almost shadowy in nature. They were wearing a mask. "What about you guys?" A duck stood up and walked towards me.

"I'm Cadence and I'm a third year!" She said, shaking my hand. A water deer raised his hand.

"Bruno. Second year." He looked like he hadn't slept in days.

"I'm Marcy, a second year!" A cat stated. "But I'm new here, just like you!"

"I'm Marny, her twin." Another cat commented. The two weren't identical. "Unlike Marcy, I was here last semester." Suddenly the shadowy student choked out in a hoarse voice,

"I'm Tony. I'm a first year." Shivers ran down my spine. It felt like I was paralyzed. I dared not ask what species he was.

"It's ni-" He was cut off by a door busting open behind me.

"Sorry I'm late! I got lost on the way!" A petite dove squawked. "I'm Leslie the first year! Pleased to make your acquaintance!"

"Mallory." She took my hand and held it for a few seconds. Her grip was disproportionately firm. "What are you doing?" She took back her hand and bowed down apologetically.

"Oh, sorry. Just getting a feel for you Manny."

"It's Mallory."

"Oh! Sorry about that."

"No problem. I don't mind."

"That's a perfect attendance so I guess we should start on assigning club responsibilities." Kevin stated. "Let's move into the shed so we don't have to sit on the ground." The seven of us shuffled towards the shed where there was a table surrounded by folding chairs. A whiteboard with a schedule hung on the wall with all our names on it.

"Who's Tee zero en dash three?" Marny asked. I looked closer at the schedule and lo and behold, there the curious name was. The hoarse voice bellowed again.

"Oh that's how you spell my name," T0N-3 mentioned. He grabbed the dry erase marker that sat on the small rack underneath it. He erased his name with his canine-like hand and wrote in Tony. "You can just write it like this though." All the club members sat down around the table with the exception of Kevin who stood in front of the whiteboard.

~0~

"So does everyone understand what days they do what?" Kevin announces after finishing the schedule. The rest of us nod in agreement with the exception of Bruno who's half asleep.

"Bruno" I whispered. He stirred awake. "Do you understand the schedule?"

"Mm?"

"You have Fridays with me and Saturdays with Marny."

"Oh ok neat," He groaned. "Can we leave now?"

"Um yea-" Kevin started. But before he could finish his sentence, Bruno was already long gone. The rest of us filed out slowly. "Oh, Mallory, a word?" Kevin requested.

"Okay?" The two of us returned to the shed.

"You wanted to know what species Tony is, right?" He said. I didn't want to pry into Tony's personal life, but I was curious so I replied with a nod. "Well so do I," Kevin said, puzzled. "Nobody in the School knows except for Headmaster Gon."

"Then why'd you ask me if I wanted to know?"

"You have Thursdays with him, right?" I could already see where this conversation was going.

"Not a chance. No way in hell that I'm talking to him about anything other than club duties."

"As your club president, I order you to find out what species Tony is. It'll bring the two of you closer together as peers."

"That's devious, pres."

"Thank you. I try." He chortled. "Remember. You have duties with him tomorrow."

"Right." I said. That Wednesday afternoon, I wrote my will and testament.