The Curse of Beasts (BEASTARS)

Beyond The Veil of Peace

"So...what's your name?"

"How old are you?"

"What's your job?"

"Why were you wagging your tail like that?"

Legosi cowered in his seat slightly as he sipped his water, "My name is Haruo...I'm 27 years old and I'm a night worker. As for my tail, um, my body was just really excited..."

He wasn't exactly lying full-on, as he technically was a night-worker. That is, if you could call catching meat-obsessed carnivores in The Ghetto a "night job"— Gouhin seemed to think so. The wolf was supremely out of his element, not only sitting with the very lions he fought before but with the deer he hadn't seen in ages! Beyond that, they surrounded a table with various dishes— all most likely meat-based because of their appearance or scent. Legosi counted himself lucky that he didn't have any craving for the food at all.

"Oh, so you're a masochist!", one of the lions patted his back roughly with a laugh. "You're so weird!"

I'm in a lot of danger right now, the wolf thought as he wiped his mouth. But why would Louis-senpai invite me to dinner with these guys? I don't get it...

"...Haruo.", Louis said as he took a drag from his cigarette. "Eat to your heart's content."

"Yeah, this is The Ghetto, where you can eat as much meat as you want!"

"Oh, wait, do you have any herbivore friends?", one of the lions asked. "You'd be pretty dumb to reject food from The Shishigumi..."

"I can't eat this.", Legosi said simply.

"What?"

The wolf had an explanation ready, "I'm sorry, but I'm a fox— bigger than most, I must add. I can only eat fried tofu."

He glanced away, "Foxes don't have the best diets, you know..."

The glasses lion laughed as he sat beside Louis, "I don't understand you. Our boss is a fine young deer, as you can see, but he likes eating meat."

The deer held an indifferent look, making Legosi worry more about him.

"Isn't that right, Boss?", the scarred lion asked.

"Of course.", Louis said as he poked a fork into the cooked steak in front of him. "I'm fine with cannibalism."

The wolf could only watch as he cut a large piece and put it in his mouth. He was forcing it, the look in his eyes said that much. Amid the lions' taunts and cheers for the deer doing what he couldn't, Legosi's mind buzzed with questions. Had he been here the whole time? Was it even healthy for him to eat meat? He knew that for herbivores, eating meat was next to impossible, yet Louis seemed fine with it.

Just what happened to him?

Louis excused himself from the table, giving the wolf a chance to speak to him one-on-one. He waited a bit before excusing himself to go to the bathroom. Of course, he didn't, and immediately followed the scent that led him to the deer. He found his way to a porch overlooking a small drop to a forest. Louis stood near the edge, head raised to the shining moon with his back to him.

"We're not what we seem, right, Legosi..?", the deer asked when he was only a few feet away.

"Hey, Legosi...hit me like you did last time."

The wolf couldn't take it anymore, closing the distance just as Louis turned to him. Before he could react, he had wrapped his arms around him tightly as his tail wagged ecstatically. The deer was frozen, but Legosi didn't mind. Even a few seconds of it would've been enough to quell his emotions. After months of silence only for him to disappear once more, he had found the deer again.