Song of the Beasts (Beastars)

Expected Surprises

After Mari shut her alarm off, she leaned over the edge of her bunk to wake up Legoshi. 

"Hey, Legoshi. Time to...huh?" The girl was surprised to see the wolf already gone. She climbed down and turned on her lamp. The couch was remade neatly and a small note was placed in the middle. 

Mari,

Thank you for letting me stay. Didn't want to wake you, so I left a little earlier.

Legoshi.

"That's nice of him, but I wish he would have told me still." She put the note down and got ready for the day, putting on her summer uniform. As she looked in the mirror at her untouched hair, she got an idea. "Let's try something different today."

She straightened her hair to smooth out the tangles and pulled it into a ponytail. But, instead of braiding her bangs, she left them alone to fall naturally. She finished the look with a cute red ribbon, tying it into a bow. Once she was happy with how it looked, she grabbed her bag to leave.

"Oh, my phone!" She pulled it from the charger and screen lit up. "Oh, so that's what I forgot about last night." She gulped when she saw that she had almost 50 missed calls and texts from Louis. Some were angry, some were worried, some even saying that he was gonna come look for her. "Oh boy. Well, isn't this a great way to start the day." She sent a short apology and shut off her phone. She decided to avoid him for today and let him cool down before talking to him. She quickly made her way to the cafeteria to try and meet Haru for breakfast.

With Legoshi

The wolf sat in his sea-speak class, not really paying attention. After a rather strange incident with a hen classmate, his mind drifted back to this morning a last night. He had decided to take Gohin's advice and put some distance between himself and Mari, as much as it pained him to do so. He needed to understand what he felt towards her before he did anything. He began to think back to last night. He had never had such a good nights sleep before, despite everything that had happened only hours earlier. He felt so relaxed, surrounded by her scent and knowing the fact that she was only in the bunk above him. 

'I never felt so calm before.' He thought. 'But I need to be careful. Back at the market, I could feel myself being tempted by all the meat. I don't want to accidentally attack her if something like that happens again.'

So for the rest of the day, Legoshi steered clear of the girl. Making sure to disappear as soon as she walked into a room. Their classes together made it bit difficult, so the wolf would wait until she walked and sat down before sitting  several rows behind her to avoid being seen.

This left the girl confused. She was unaware that her friend was avoiding her and found it strange that she didn't see him nearly as much as she usually did. She was gonna talk to him a drama club when she remembered that Haru needed her help with getting ready for the festival. There was no club hour since the festival was nearing and everyone needed more time after school to get ready. 

Once her last class of the day was over, she headed up to the roof.

At the Garden Club

In the Garden Club's shed, Haru laid on the bed as she stared at Louis' bare back. The red deer was lost in thought, distracted. She noticed he had been so for a while now, but he wouldn't say why. He also seemed quite annoyed today for some reason.

'Ever since we met, he always seemed so sad. These last few months, he's begun to distance himself more.' She thought as she sighed. 'I guess I should have seen this coming.'

As for Louis, he was indeed annoyed. He had called and text Mari over a dozen times last night since she never responded to him. He had been beyond worried. It wasn't until this morning that she sent a short "I'm sorry" and never responded afterwards. She must have known he was upset because he would see her for a second around school before she hauled tail in the opposite direction. 'I'll talk to her later at drama.' He thought before turning to Haru.

"Will you be attending the festival?" Louis asked. 

"Yea, we're will be selling plants and flowers. We need to maintain the the budget." Louis nodded before realizing what she said.

"Wait, you said "we". I thought you were the only member here." Haru shook her head.

"Not any more. A new member joined a few months ago. In fact she's supposed to be here soon, so you should probably go soon." Louis nodded.

"You know, I can give you all the money you need for the budget." He said, wondering who the other member could be. Haru never mentioned them before.

Haru shook her head. "I want love more than money." Louis simply pat her head. 

"You told me you understand my situation." He said. 'I think now's as good a time as any.' "Haru, I think we should stop with these little meetings." The news was both a surprise and yet expected for the rabbit. She let out a dry laugh.

"I had a feeling this would happen soon." 

"I still want to remain friends." He said as he hugged her. As the two talked, they were unaware of the new presence on the roof.