An Oddity Among Beasts (BEASTARS)

A Human's Place

Alan didn't know how long he struggled for, but he had no intention of stopping.

    He held his eyes shut, focusing on punching and kicking at whoever held him. Their grip was tight, one arm covering his mouth while the other held his waist. The movement was a blur to him, adrenaline surging through him as he focused on getting free of his captor. If his struggling had any effect, the mystery kidnapper showed none.

    The human was getting weaker, limbs aching from the constant flailing. He couldn't tell where he was, who was holding him, or why they took him in the first place. However, he had a possible answer for at least one of them. It seemed like he was being brought to a building, judging by the sounds of doors opening and closing. He still didn't know where, though, and that was going to be a problem if he wanted to escape.

    He could hear some voices stop once another door was open and shut, the captor stopping their relentless march. As soon as he felt their grip loosen, Alan reared his elbow back and slammed it back to their abdomen, jumping from their grip and stumbling as he opened his eyes. He could only look around for a second before his gaze froze on a familiar face.

"Haru?", he asked the rabbit, who looked to be petrified.

"Haru, what's going on?"

    She stayed silent, only gazing past him— behind him. The human stopped, holding still as he turned his head. He could see more of the room they were in, fancy lighting, and a couch just behind Haru. He could see a kanji symbol hung on one of the walls, but he couldn't tell what character it was. His gaze was taken by who surrounded him and the rabbit.

Lions.

They were adults, that much was obvious. They looked shady as well, wearing suits and ties or some variation between them. He noticed one of them was holding his stomach, glaring at him angrily. It didn't stir any pity from Alan, though. If anything, he'd have done it twice as hard now that he knew Haru was here as well. His body felt weighed down as if he were being crushed by an insurmountable force.

"Damn kid...", the lion holding himself growled. "Put up more of a fight than I expected."

"It doesn't matter, as long as you got him here.", another wearing glasses said. "It's still a surprise that a human would even be at that place, anyway."

"What is this?", Alan asked loudly. "Who are you?"

"Bite and bark, now that's something to see in a human.", the lion in glasses said. "But it won't do you any good here. Well, you know about us? Criminal organizations?"

He felt his heart drop at that.

"We're the Shishigumi and The Ghetto is our stronghold. You two are resources."

"Wha-what do you mean?", Haru asked from behind him.

"Our boss is a gourmet to the core.", a different lion said. "It's always difficult to find food for his delicate tongue. He thinks albino animals have the finest meat available."

He felt his knees buckle.

"But to find a human as well...that's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, one that can't be passed up."

"To hell with that!", he snapped as he stepped in front of Haru. "As if I'd let myself or her be pieces of meat for you to take!"

The glasses-lion looked at him almost amused by his defiance. It wasn't a choice either of them had, and he knew that. If they really are in The Ghetto, getting out without drawing attention to themselves would be next to impossible. Not only that, but there's no telling wherein The Ghetto they are. In all, it's completely beyond their control.