An Oddity Among Beasts (BEASTARS)

One Step Inbetween

    What happened last night didn't leave anyone's mind, that much was clear. Even though things seemed alright in the final day of preparations, there was a sense of unease in the air. Alan could hear students whispering, talking about the possibility of a carnivore cutting the power and trying to find someone to kill. He brushed it off, already having a lot on his mind as-is. It was still something to keep in mind, though.

His thoughts went back to his conversation with Riz before the power outage. He never thought about his status as a hybrid before then, and it was something he wanted to hide more than anything. He at least made a good impression when he first came, the PR team interview being the biggest factor. Now, though, another part was in play. Perhaps he could be more open about it, try to make sure nobody had a reason to be afraid of him.

Then, maybe...

~~*~~

"I think I might go back to the Drama Club after the festival.", he said to Haru. "It seems like they don't have any bad feelings towards me, and staying quiet won't help with that."

She smiled, "Sounds like you're finally moving forward."

"Well, it took a little encouragement...", he chuckled. "Plus, I may have been taking things the wrong way all this time."

"What do you mean?"

"When I first ran out of that room, I thought they'd all hate me. I thought they wouldn't want to know me because I was hiding this part of myself, but I don't think it was always like that."

He glanced around, "All of you guys are around each other every day, and are even friends with each other regardless of what you are! I think that's where I messed up."

"They only knew me for being human, not for being part-wolf. It must've felt like I was lying to them this whole time, that I was hiding some ferocious monster inside me. In a way, I actually was, but not anymore. If I'm gonna be in a school with animals, I may as well not be afraid of the animal in me."

"That sounds different from how you were before.", she said.

"Don't get me wrong. I still don't like that everyone knows now, and I despise that I'm like this at all. Chances are I won't be okay with it for a long time, but it's not worth dwelling over since it's out in the open."

"I can't say I'm a stranger to that..."

He didn't pry, mainly because he felt it wasn't his place to. Haru only found out about Alan's secret because he knew it would be pointless to hide at the time. He didn't think she'd have a secret of her own, but it wasn't something that interested him. He did his best not to peek too much into others' lives, though it was a bit hard with Haru and Legosi. His curiosity peaked when he saw the two talking together, and last night didn't help in any way.

    Alan had gone off to spectate some of the festival work when he saw the duo again. Legosi had a piece of tissue in his nose, strangely enough. He seemed like he was going to say something when Haru blurted something out. The rabbit seemed to get frustrated as Legosi tried to talk to her, starting to walk off when he grabbed her arm again.

Those two are such an odd couple, Alan pulled out his ball and gave it a small squeeze. Well, if I could call them that...

    He stayed to the side, even after the two went their separate ways. His thoughts drifted around their relationship, along with the complications with it. Louis was a big part of it, as he and Haru seemed to have a thing already. It didn't seem to be very public, though. Not only that but she and Legosi weren't sure about their feelings just yet. That's not even going into the most glaring difference between the two...

    Would a wolf and rabbit even work together in a relationship? One is significantly bigger than the other, and then there's the predator-prey aspect. He didn't want to think something bad would happen between them, but the possibility was there. Legosi wouldn't do that, would he? Would he really let himself fall victim to his instinct? Would he end up like—

"No!", the human slumped against a tree as he gazed at the meteor from afar. "He wouldn't do that..."

"But I was planning on telling her the truth one day."

    He winced at the wolf's words from The Ghetto, reaching into his pocket to pull out his ball again. His gaze was still forward, unknowing of the huge shadows behind him. By the time he realized what was happening, it was too late. His ball fell to the ground with a low bounce, barely rolling anywhere as he disappeared.

That was the beginning of a battle Alan was not prepared for. One that would change his worldview forever:

His battle with reality.