Song of the Beasts (Beastars)

Unspoken

As Legoshi walked the sunlit hallways of the school, he gripped a newspaper in his hand. He had rolled it up and was using it to hit the back of his head gently. It had been three months since Tem's murder, and the cops hadn't found any clues as to who could have done it. He thought back to the last time he spoke to Tem. The alpaca had been nervous about confessing his feelings to his long time crush, Els. One thing that Tem said in particular really stuck with him.

"I'll wait for the perfect moment to tell her my feelings!" 

His ear drooped as he looked up at the ceiling.

'True feelings, huh? Hm..'

He cast his gaze back to the floor. His mind drifted back to yesterday. The fact that Mari was glad to see him even thought he had scared her for a second made his heart soar. His happy thought only lasted for a second before he remembered what happened with Louis. He could tell that there was definitely something between the deer and the human, even if they kept it quiet. 

'Are they already together? Is that why Louis told me to get closer to the other carnivores?' The thought made his heart sink. He was jealous, he knew that for a fact. But he was mature enough to respect the girl's choice. In fact, to him, the buck was a much better choice for her. At least he would attack and try to devour her like he almost did. 

He knew how he hurt her, and how she still had no idea that it was even him. He was selfish for lying to her like this. He hated himself for it.

'Louis more than likely got to her long before I did. Urgh...what am I supposed to do? Tem, help me out here!'

Scene Change to at the festival grounds

Mari hummed to herself as she roamed around the various booths. She came to a stop in front of the giant meteor sculpture and looked around. Even though the festival hadn't started yet, the grounds were buzzing with excitement. She was excited as well, this was her first festival after all. She had been to others in different countries, but this was the first that she could say that she had a part in making it happen. 

The girl was brought out her thoughts by a familiar, deep voice.

"Mari." 

"Huh?" She turned and the gave the wolf a smile. " Hey Legoshi, what's-" She stopped when she noticed the tissue stuffed up his nose. She couldn't help but giggle, but was also curious as to how he got a bloody nose. "What happened? Did you get into a fight or something?"

"No, it's just a nosebleed." He replied as he crouched on the ground and looked up at her. 'A confession, huh? I've never done this before! I don't, I don't think I can go through with this.' 

"Oh, alright then." The girl sweat drops at the calmness of the situation. The two are silent for a moment before the wolf speaks up again. "Hey, Mari."

"What's up?" What the two didn't know was that a certain rabbit was nearby and was listening.  Though she hadn't said anything to Louis, or anyone for that matter, the thought of Mari suddenly being confessed to by a guy made Haru nervous. Mostly because she was scared to lose the only real friend that she had in so long. Now, she wanted Mari to find happiness, but she decided to be selfish, just for a bit. 

"Well, uh."  Legoshi tried to get the words, with a bit of difficulty. "The truth is uh...Mari, I think I'm-I'm in lov-" Before he even got the chance to finish, the dwarf rabbit had heard enough. 

"Mari!" Haru said as she approached the two. 

"Hey, Haru. What's up?" Mari turned to the rabbit.

"I, uh, I really need your help with something, like, right now!" She said as she pulled on the girls hand. Legoshi just stared at the rabbit, he could see clearly what she was doing. 

"Sure, just a second." Mari said before she turned back to the wolf. "What were you saying, Legoshi?" Haru shot a glare at the wolf as she tightened her grip on Mari's hand. 

"I said that I love-"

"Ow, the mosquitoes are really bad today!" Haru said as she pretended to scratch her arm. Mari just looked at her confused. Legoshi just glared back at the rabbit.

"Their not that bad." He said.

"Y-You can't see them!"

"I could smell them." 

"You only have one nostril!" Mari watched at the two went back and forth, growing seemingly more confused at their behavior.

"Yeah." Legoshi said sheepishly before deciding to push forward with his original mission. "Look, I really like-" 

"Listen, I'm sure what ever you have to tell her can wait until after she helps me." Haru said as she crossed her arms. 

"I'd like to say it now."

"Um, guys-" Mari tried to calm the two, but they weren't listening.

"Sorry, but we're both quite busy." Haru huffed as she grabbed Mari's wrist and started pulling her away. Mari just sighed, seeing as they weren't listening to her. Legoshi was quick to follow them. 

"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? What gives?" He said as he caught up to them. 

'I'm so lost right now.' Mari thought as she looked between the two. 'What with them?'

"That's what I should be saying. You have something important say, yet you have a tissue shoved up your nose, I mean come on!" The both stopped when Legoshi grabbed Mari's wrist.

"Mari." Her attention was now on him and Haru could tell that he wasn't gonna give up. "I don't wanna ruin the relationship we have now. You're important to me and I respect Louis. I don't wanna cause any harm, especially with how society is now." Wolf blushed but continued. "S-So...I'll say this once, I want you to know how I feel and I would like for you to hear what I have to say. Let's meet here at sunset tomorrow."

'How he feels?' Mari had a feeling she knew where this was going, her stomach turning anxiously, with just a bit of dread. 

"Now would be too sudden...but, if it's tomorrow, you can hear me out, please?" She just nodded in response. "Ok, see you tomorrow." He said as he let go and waved goodbye. Mari just waved back silently as a million thoughts ran through her head. "Hope your nose get's better!" She called out as he vanished from sight. 

Haru, on the other hand, felt defeated. She didn't express it, but she didn't want Mari to meet up with him. Sure, Legoshi seemed like a nice guy, but the fear of losing her friend to a boy saddened her greatly. "Hey, I'm gonna head to the booth, just come when you can."

"Sure, okay." Mari said as Haru walked off. The girl dragged herself over to a tree and leaned against it, a tired sigh escaping her lips

'First Louis, and now Legoshi? Why is this all happening now? Honestly, if I knew high school was gonna be this stressful, I would have stayed at home with dad.' While she was lost in her thoughts, the whisper of the plants around her failed to reach her ears.

"Danger! Danger!" She caught the last few cries. "Huh?" Before she had time to react, two large hands grabbed her, one covering her mouth. She tried to scream, but to no avail. She could see that her attacker was a lion. She tried to kick and fight back against him, but he was much stronger than her. 

She kept fighting even as he dragged her from the grounds. Tears sprung to her eyes as she felt her dread building in her stomach.

'No, no, please no!'