Song of the Beasts (Beastars)

Don't Run Away

As Mari walked around the festival grounds, her head felt ready to explode. Today did not go like she had expected at all. Nor had the last few days. 

"I feel like I'm in one of those cheesy high school drama shows." She sighed as she rubbed her temple. "Why can't I just be normal like everyone else?"

"What's wrong with being different?" A voice said behind her. Mari gasped and turned coming face to face with a brown bear. She recognized him from the sound team, Riz.

"Oh, Riz. You startled me." She awkwardly laughed, feeling somewhat embarrassed that he heard her complaining to herself.

"Is everything alright, Mari? You seem kinda down." The bear tilted his head in confusion. Like the other drama club members, he was used to seeing her happy and bubbly. She put on the best smile she could, despite her mood.

"I'm fine, Riz. Just a bit worn out from helping out around the festival. I'm fine." She said, hoping that he didn't press the topic further. Thankfully, he didn't.

"If you say so. But remember, the drama club is your family. If you need anything, you can confide in us, alright?"

"S-Sure thing." With that the bear took his leave. Despite his kind words, something about the grizzly unnerved her. She couldn't quite put her finger on why though. She pushed the thought away as she was about to make her way back to the garden booth, well, before another voice stopped her. 

"Mari, hold up!" The girl turned and saw a female Collie running towards her. She knew her as Abbie and she was from the music club. 

"Hey, Abbie. What's up?" The Collie caught her breath for a moment before addressing her. 

"I was just wondering, in case you're not busy, if you could come and give us a hand with a few things for the music club performance. We want everything to be perfect and you have just the skills to help us. Please." She gave the girl puppy eyes. Mari just giggled, how could she say no. It would also help her to focus on anything but her drama with her friends. 

"Lead the way." She said and followed the canine.

Later that evening, Mari was sitting on bench as she read over some sheet music, making adjustments where she thought they were needed. 

"Excuse me, young lady." She looked up to see the mayor standing in front of her. His creepy grin sent a chill down her spine. 

"Oh, Mr. Mayor. How may I help you?" 

"You are a student at Cherryton, correct?" 

"Um, yes sir."

"Then I would suggest getting back to campus soon. It's not safe for young people to stay out so late. And it is my job as mayor to make sure that everyone stays safe."

'You're kinda doing a shitty job at it, dude.' Mari thought but simply nodded her head and grabbed her things, getting away from the old lion as quickly as possible. "What a weirdo." As she made her way back to the main area, she saw all the members of the drama club gathered around Legoshi, who was sitting on the ground. They all seemed to be laughing and having a good time. Mari couldn't help but feel like an outsider. Despite the club being a mix of different species, she felt like she especially didn't belong. She quickly shook away the depressing thoughts and headed for the garden booth to grab her bag and tell Haru bye. 

Unfortunately, it appeared she was a bit late. The light they had hung up were off, indicating that the small rabbit had left already.

"Well, looks like I'm heading back on my own." She shrugged as she located her bag. As she put away the sheet music inside, a large shadow loomed over her. 

'What the hell?!' She was prepared to sock the person in the mouth when her eyes met with those of a familiar wolf. 'Oh, thank goodness.' "Legoshi, you startled me there for a second." She awkwardly chuckled as the wolf had a creepy expression on his face. 

"Mari," His tone matched his expression. "Hi."

'Is he alright? I can never tell what's going on inside that head of his.' "Were you about to head back as well?"

"Yeah. Why don't we...go back together?"

"Oh?" Mari was all for hanging out with him, but his current behavior was kinda throwing her off.  "Ok! But...why?"

"Because it's dangerous out there, you know?" His tiny pupils seemed to stare right through her. She sweat dropped at his ominous tone.

'Ok...I know he's always been kinda odd, but this is on an entirely different level.' "Well, alrighty then. Let's go before the train leaves." 

As the two walked to the station, it was pure silence. Neither knew what to say to the other, considering how cold the wolf had been towards her the last few days, putting a constant distance between them. Every time Mari would glance up at him and catch his gaze, he would quickly avert his eyes and stare stiffly ahead.

'This wolf is so confusing.' Mari sighed to herself. As they got to the station, Mari went through barriers with ease after scanning her ticket. She stopped and sweat dropped when she saw Legoshi having some trouble. The poor canine kept apologizing to the herbivores around him, who in turn, only coward away. 

Mari was out of breath as she reached the platform with Legoshi right behind her, only to watch the train pull away. 

"Sorry." Legoshi apologized.

"It's fine," Mari smiled gently at him. "We can just wait for the next one." The two took a seat on a bench, Legoshi putting a small space between them. Nothing was said between the two before Mari decided to break the silence. "Ya know, Legoshi." She said, drawing his attention. "Ever since we first met, I never understood what went on inside that head of yours."

'The first day?'

Legoshi's mind immediately went to the day he first saw her at the garden club. His heart beat faster remembering how the sun shone off of her fair skin, as well as the calmness and peace in her blue eyes. Even now, her melodious voice still rang in his head.

"E-eh?" He nervously rubbed his hands on his pants. "It was... a hot day today. It's supposed to be cooler tomorrow."

'Ok, not exactly how I planned that would go. What's with him lately? First he's cold, then like a creepy stalker, and now this?' Mari could feel her patience running thin. It didn't help that her nerves were shot from what happened with Louis earlier. But, she kept going with her original topic. 

"Honestly, I hadn't expected to for that to happen that day. But despite how awkward it was, I'm glad we can kinda look back on it and laugh. It all worked out in the end because we became friends, despite how different we are from each other." She looked down with a sad smile. "I was glad we did. Because when I first came to Cherryton, I wasn't expecting to have any friends at all."

Now this was a shock to the wolf. "Why would you say that? You're so kind and outgoing, and very helpful. I can't imagine anyone not wanting to be friends with you."

"That's funny coming from you." She said. "Despite how you carry yourself and think that everyone is afraid of you, you still have some great friends like Jack, Kai, the guys in 701 and pretty much the entire drama club." She could feel tears burn at the back of her eyes. "My entire life, I've had no one but my dad. I had one friend as a kid, but in the end they turned their back on me. So don't talk to me about being alone when at least you have someone like Jack who would never turn on you!" Mari suddenly didn't care about the train anymore, she wanted to be alone now. She turned to go, only for Legoshi to grab her arm to stop her. 

'This wolf,' She thought as she looked into his eyes. 'Is so confusing.'