The Curse of Beasts (BEASTARS)

The Agitation Factor

    Alan breathed softly as his gaze met the floor, ears ringing as he watched the material shift beneath his feet. Shaking his head, the ringing died down as the beating in his heart calmed slightly. What happened was a blur to him, some of it blacked out by his rage and fading back. His thoughts jumped around a bit before he grounded himself.

"Damn, and in the nose, too."

    He looked up, seeing Gouhin leaned to the side slightly. His gaze was lowered, a few grunts escaping him as something dripped from his nose. As the human looked down lower, he could see a few drops of blood on the floor. They weren't very frequent in their appearance, but it was clear it wasn't stopping for now.

"Did that actually hurt you?", Alan asked without any concern.

"You'd be on your knees if you were a bear dealing with this.", the panda said as he pulled himself up. "It wasn't that hard, but it still hurt like hell."

Legosi finally entered the room and froze at the sight of the two, "A-Alan?"

"Don't give me any crap, Legwolf. He pissed me off and I gave him what he deserved. I might've gotten him crying, though."

"You wish.", Gouhin chuckled as he swiped a thumb under his nose. "You hit harder than I expected, but I didn't think you'd go right for the weak spot."

"Wait.", Legosi tilted his head. "You...wanted him to hit you?"

"I had a theory, and I think it just got proven right."

"Are you telling me...", Alan slowly seethed. "you said all that on purpose?"

"Call it incentive.", the panda shrugged. "I couldn't just ask you to punch me outright— too easy. You needed a reason to do it."

"'Incentive?'", the human began to raise a fist as he started for the panda again. "How's about I give you incentive, you skull-faced, roid-raging, grass-eating son of a—"

"Alan.", Legosi grabbed his arm before pausing as he winced. "What's wrong?"

"Damn it...", he looked at his hands. "I clenched them too hard again."

    Alan felt himself cool down as he held his hands up to his face, seeing the slightly bloody nails and cut palms. It felt like so long ago that he'd done it the first time during the Adler play, and he avoided a repeat whenever he could. Though, most of it could be because he never got worked up enough to ignore the presence of his nails. Of course, the universe had a thing for tormenting him.

    Legosi let go of his arm the moment he saw his hands, quickly getting some bandages and ointment before crouching down and beginning to treat the injuries. Alan let the wolf do as he wished, his thoughts going down a more pessimistic line. If he hadn't let himself lose it with Louis back at the lions' lair, he would've been able to get out of The Ghetto without being caught. Even then, he probably should've taken his chances jumping that rooftop before Legosi could get to him. One mistake after another, he supposed...

"So, since I currently can't punch you in the face again...", Alan said with clear disdain. "How's about you tell me why you thought intentionally pissing me off was a good idea?"

"You're just a ray of sunshine, aren't you...", Gouhin muttered before asking. "When you hit me, did you feel anything in your hand?"

He looked at the hand Legosi was bandaging up, "No, I was...I don't know, numb?"

"And before then, did you freeze up?"

He furrowed his brow and turned his head away, "Yeah..."

"There's a connection you're not seeing here.", the panda said. "The fact that you froze up and that you managed to hit hard enough to make me bleed— weak spot or not. They aren't directly related to one another, but there is a connection."