An Oddity Among Beasts (BEASTARS)

A True Beast

The hulking lion lowered himself with a growl, Alan following suit and motioning Haru to the side. He tensed up, knowing full well he had very little chance against him. Still, he won't take it lying down, not after all he'd witnessed. His loss, his friends, his grudge with the world he was born into. Even if he breaks his body, he'd stand with it all!

    The boss made the first move, charging towards the boy as he moved out of the way quickly. He then threw a punch towards him, making its mark and leaving him open to a much stronger one. He stumbled, but stood his ground and swung his claws. The lion proved to be more agile than his body let on, avoiding the attack swiftly and without relent.

The two kept going, exchanging blow after blow, bruising each other more and more. Even so, it was obvious to anyone witnessing it that Alan was at a disadvantage. His arms were battered from defending himself against the lion, his shirt ripped in a few places. His breaths were short and shaky, body trembling as he struggled to keep up. As he threw one punch, the boss caught it tightly, making him buckle.

"I've had enough of this!", he squeezed, making the human fall onto his knees.

"An oddity...that's what you call yourself?", he squeezed tighter. "I didn't understand at first, but now I do..."

Alan swung his other arm, but found it caught as he was pinned down, "You're an abomination! You thought just because you have the traits of an animal, you could beat me?"

His body was worn out from fighting, limbs burning as he struggled. A huge weight pushed down across his chest, a hand grasping his neck firmly. His struggles started to go frantic, lungs pleading for air as he could feel the grip tighten. The lion stared at him wildly, a feral madness filling his eyes. The human could feel his heart pounding in his chest, maybe even getting faster to a point that was impossible.

"Neither of you have any use to me anymore. You lost. In this world, only the strong survive— and compared to me, you're nothing!"

The grip tightened more, making him thrash uselessly. All he could do was stare at the enraged feline as his vision began to darken. His movements slowed down, lungs practically on fire now as his eyes began to water. He could hear someone calling his name, screaming for him to keep fighting.

It really is true, then..., he thought. I'm nothing compared to them.

He shakily turned his head, locking eyes with the terrified rabbit.

Now we're both gonna die, and nobody will even know what happened!

The sounds started to fade, silent tears leaking from his eyes.

My friends, my life, everything...it'll be gone now!

He closed them and shuddered, I'm sorry...it was all for nothing, after all.

    The grip loosened suddenly, the weight removing itself from his chest completely. He felt something rain down on him from above, making him open his eyes shakily. He could see Haru looking up, lips moving as she spoke. It was nothing but white noise to him, his mind trying to make sense of what was going on. Her expression turned to worry before something was thrown on her, a shirt. Alan looked over in pain, seeing the lion fighting a very familiar wolf.

Legosi..?

    He slowly scooted his body back, every part of him aching as his neck seemed to have the worst of it. Haru made her way to him fast, looking at him worriedly as he watched the wolf and lion fight. He was fighting in a way he never saw him before, beyond what happened with Bill. No, this was beyond that— beyond just frustration or pent-up rage. Every punch, every dodge, they had a meaning. They had a reason...

Alan saw it then, where he stood in this world.

    He couldn't take the lion on, he knew it the moment he entered the room. He thought that if he at least tried, it would make him feel fulfilled. It would give him some sort of satisfaction in the grand scheme of things. It didn't though, and now he lay in shock as one of the first animal friends he made fought off a monster right before his eyes.

"For the first time in my life, I couldn't let it go."

He looked over to the rabbit beside him, now wearing the oversized shirt.

There's no doubt about it. She's the one...

"Haru-chan, Alan-san! Now's your chance, hurry!"

Legosi's voice brought him back, making him look over to see the lion biting into his arm. He froze, seeing the blood drip around his wrist and down to the glass-covered floor. He couldn't leave him behind, he didn't want to lose him or Haru or anyone! Even with his body in agony, part of him wanted to get up and help him somehow. Although, that part was shrinking fast now, falling deep into the chasm that's opened in his heart.

    As Legosi kneed the lion in the jaw and freed his arm, the human looked back on everything. He was naive to think he could keep his wolf half secret for long, as he was practically surrounded by animals who wore their true selves like coats. People like Bill, who embrace their fierceness with pride, and those like Gouhin, who committed themselves to the light and discarded their madness. Then there's Legosi, who held himself back for so long and became content in the shadows.

Alan wasn't like any of them.

He had no significant strength, and he could only hold out for so long. He didn't have fangs, only nails that could grow sharp into "claws". No one took him seriously, they all saw him as a harmless human with nothing to his name but his species. Even then, it was a lie, wasn't it? He hid one half of himself just to keep that status, and it was all for nothing in the end.

It was then he thought about what the lions said about humans isolating themselves from animals. Was it really as simple as that? Are humans that fragile and weak, to the point that they'd rather live away from animals entirely? The very idea sickened him, as it made him want to question his past and his parents. He hated bringing them up, as it always brought him back to that fateful night...

Then, he heard it...

"Let's end this, boy..."

~~*~~

A.N: Ugh...this was a hard one. I knew for a fact that I wanted Alan to fight the boss, but not make it as if he were on the same level (He is only 15, after all. I'm so evil).

It's important, though, believe me. This may seem like nothing, but it'll come into play soon. Honestly, I kept getting slumped with this one even with the last few chapters already written. I think it's because I knew this was a major turning point in the story—for Alan, anyway.