An Oddity Among Beasts (BEASTARS)

Last Resort

I'm so bored...

Alan groaned to himself as he slumped against a tree in the courtyard. Summer break had arrived, and many students decided to leave for their families. Todd had decided to stay for two weeks to get his summer classes out of the way before leaving himself. Even though it did give the two more time together, the human felt like things were empty without the goat around. He managed to keep himself preoccupied for a bit but it started to become a drag on him. Things were slow now, and he was able to look back on everything.

He looked around, seeing other students roaming in the sun as he felt his arms quiver slightly, I still like this place, even after everything.

    He frowned as he looked at his arms, seeing them tremble as if there were a chill in the air. There wasn't, though it seemed to happen more often than not. When it did, he usually went somewhere alone until they stopped, as trying to will it away proved fruitless. Not even squeezing his ball worked, for some reason! Nobody seemed to notice it— and if they did, they never said anything, which was just fine for him. Luckily, Todd didn't notice it either.

    He stepped off the tree and made his way into the building, going for the bathroom. He always found it interesting to see them formatted for different species— mainly in the stalls and urinals. The sinks seemed to be unchanged, though. Making sure no one else was inside, he went to the furthest sink and started the water, splashing some onto his face and looking himself in the mirror. His neck looked to be completely healed, with no irritation to be seen. He smoothed over his jacket with still-shaking hands and stopped for a moment.

Wow..., he thought as he dropped his arms. I guess they were right about me being like him...

    It was as if the deer were standing right next to him, shoulder-to-shoulder. Louis was taller than him, but not by much, though most of it could be based on his antlers. He could see a similar look in their eyes, confidence that kept them going, though one was smaller. Even their outfits were similar, jackets over the vest and dress shirt. Louis was still missing, not much news coming out surrounding where he went before the Meteor Festival.

He chuckled lightly as he heard the door creak open, It looks like I have some things in common with you, too. Maybe I was just too blind to see it...

He looked over, "Hey, Riz. Are you okay? You look kind of tired."

The bear nodded sluggishly as he went to the sink and splashed his face, "Mhmm, I just have a headache because of my pills."

"Pills?"

"You know bears grow really big, right?", he asked, getting a nod. "When we reach a certain height, we have to take strength restrainers to keep ourselves in check."

"It makes sense. Do the headaches happen a lot?"

"They mainly come in the mornings, but I got a quick fix for it.", he said as he pulled out a small bottle and opened it up.

A sweet scent instantly found its way to Alan's nose.

"Is that..."

"Honey.", he grinned as he poured some into his mouth and gulped. "I know it's cliche, but it helps a lot."

"Yeah, I can see why.", the human grabbed his trembling arm subconsciously. "I have a bouncing ball in my pocket that I squeeze in my hand sometimes for stress relief. You could say it's a quirk I get from my wolf-side, though it's more of a canine thing overall."

Riz chuckled, "As long as it helps you, I'd say it wouldn't matter."

"Yeah...I guess it really wouldn't matter in the long term.", Alan glanced over to the mirror and froze. He stood still, gazing at his reflection for a moment longer.

"Alan? Are you okay?"

He blinked and shook his head, "Yeah, I just spaced out for a second there. Anyway, I gotta go, see ya!"

He made his way out quickly, leaving the bear confused. He kept his eyes on the door for a bit before sighing.

I guess it can't be helped, he thought, He's probably still struggling with his secret being out.

He looked in the mirror with a small smile, Still, I can't help but like him. He's so different from everyone else, and yet he's so kind...

He placed a hand on his stomach, He's a lot like you, isn't he...Tem?

~~*~~

    Alan groaned as he glanced around the courtyard frantically, finding it almost empty. He closed his eyes, trying to calm his breathing as it began to quicken. He leaned back against a column and shook his head, trying to calm himself down. The unease didn't stop and seemed to just get worse once he got out of the bathroom.

Damn it!, he thought. What am I supposed to do? I can't keep this going forever. The only one I could talk to about this is...

    He sighed heavily, moving into the shade and pulling his phone out. The human didn't want to do this, but it seemed like he was at the end of his rope. He originally wanted to keep this to himself, but it proved to be more than he could handle. He couldn't rely on Legosi forever, and with Louis gone, he didn't have someone to comfortably confide in. There was only one option left...

He pulled out his phone and opened his contacts, finger trembling before hurriedly tapping once and raising it to his ear.

I really hope he doesn't answer...

One ring, two, three...

"Hello?", a deep, slightly rough voice answered

Damn it! This is what I get for hoping these things! he grits his teeth as he shook slightly.

"Hello? Who is this?"

His breath hitched as he opened his mouth to speak, his body quickly flooding with anxiety.

"...Alan?"

"Y-yeah..."

The line was silent for a moment before a low chuckle came over, "Well, it must be important if you decided to call me. So, how's life at Cherryton?"

To be continued in Book 2.

~~*~~

A.N: Finally, we've reached the end of Book 1. Believe me, I wanted to go further with this, but once I got around chapter 30, I knew I had to stop somewhere. It looks like this is gonna be my largest story on Wattpad—41 chapters! Seriously, I thought I'd stop at 35 or something...

So, here's the plan. I'm hoping to get book 2 out before the end of the year, that's the long-term. Short term, I want to start around mid-September/early-October. Hopefully, the world won't turn into a dystopia by then and I'll be sane enough to write, but enough of that.

I wanted to end things off with a few recommendations, both of which I am invested in and love! Plus, they both involve human protagonists, so you get more human goodness! Can't leave you all hanging, now can I?

The first is a Human OC insert by BDubs1, titled "Human (An OC Insert of Beastars!). It takes the concept of humans in the world of Beastars in a different direction, and the protagonist, David, is really out of the loop on certain things. I recommend it if you want a different (and maybe darker) take on the whole "Human in Beastars" idea.

The second one is more of a LegosixHuman!Reader, but hits on certain things I want to do with Book 2. The story is by lilmemelord, titled "Home (Legosi x fem!reader)". It's more centered around the reader in the world of Beastars (with a few sick burns mixed in) and falling for a certain wolf. Also, Reader-chan may or may not have a bit of a feud with Haru in the story (She totally does!), but now I'm just rambling. I recommend it if you like adorable interactions and fun nicknames. Honestly, xReaders are a guilty pleasure for me, and this one hits all the boxes!

I can't give enough thanks for all the support on this. When I first got into Beastars, I basically scoured Wattpad for human fanfics and maybe a few xReaders. I got hooked, soon enough, and it eventually brought me here! *Sigh* Nothing like an entire manga of furry-world things to get your brain going...