Song of the Beasts (Beastars)

Don't Lose Faith

Meanwhile at the festival grounds, the mayor was in a heated internal battle within himself. One part of him told him to push the entire incident under the rug, as it was probably too late to save the girl anyway. Another part of him said to send law enforcement to find her, lest he wanted to face the wrath of the girl's father. He had known who she was the minute he saw her, and knew that her father would have his head if anything happened to her. Reo didn't have any biological children, the girl was all he had. The mayor knew the risk of going against someone as powerful as Reo, but right now, the festival was his top priority. With that, he ripped the card in half. 

"Hey, you, wolf!" Haru called to Legoshi. "I need to talk to you." Legoshi turned to see a familiar dwarf rabbit nearing him. 

'She's Mari's friend and the other member of the gardening club.' He thought as she ran towards him. 

She stopped as she got close and panted. Legoshi crouched down to her level in attempt to be polite. 

"It's Mari!" She huffed out, this immediately sent up red flags for the wolf. 

"Mari?! What happened? Is she alright?" He asked in panic as his heart rate went through the roof. 

"She...She's been kidnapped! By the Shishigumi!" Haru said as she finally caught her breath. "I think they're a gang or something and the Mayor said that he would take care of it, but I don't really trust that he will."

Legoshi's whole body began to shake with rage, a possessive growl emitting from his throat.

"What?!"

Meanwhile

Mari stood a few feet away and faced her kidnapper. He sat on the sofa, seemingly relaxed and confident. It made her sick that he was so calm despite what his intentions were for her. 

He even looked the part of a typical mobster. A dark suit, his main styled in a professional manner, a cigar in his mouth and even his posture, leaned back with one leg crossed over the other. But it was his gaze that unnerved her the most, the gaze of a hungry predator. 

Mari's brained racked with a million different ways on how she could possibly escape, unfortunately, every one could end in her possible death. They were on the top floor of the building and the other lions were standing on the other side of the door with guns. 

"Now then, we're finally alone." His rough voice broke her train of thought. "Don't worry, I'm not violent."

'No but you are a kidnapper and a murderer.'

"You look awfully young. How old are you?" It wasn't a question she was expecting, but she answered anyway. 

"Seventeen." Mari tried to keep her voice steady despite the adrenaline rushing through her veins. 

"So, you're in high school. Is it fun?" Mari kept a neutral face. She figured if she could keep him distracted long enough, maybe she could come up with a plan to escape and live at the same time. 

"For the most part, it's alright. I've only been in school for a few months. I was homeschooled most of my life. Although the bullies and annoying teenage drama are a downside to my whole experience."

He nodded at her answer and smiled, although it was far from genuine. 

"Are you in any clubs?"

"I'm in the drama club and garden club. I work backstage, I don't really like the spotlight that much."

He nods again. For a moment, he doesn't say anything. But his next words made bile rise in the back of Mari's throat. 

"There's no need to worry, you have my full respect, I promise. Now, take off your clothes."  

'The hell?!'

"I-I'm sorry?!" Mari looked at him as if he had grown two heads. His stare remained steady but Mari could tell that his patience was wavering. 

"Take off your clothes of your own volition and prove to me how worthy you are as a fine meal or would you rather have my men force you to remove them?"

Mari gulped. Neither option was appealing to her. His intense gaze on her only told that he was very serious about his threat. With much hesitation, Mari starts with her tie and unbuttoned the front of her blouse. The tears that formed at the back of her eyes threatened to spill as she pulled her shirt over her head.She undid the button and zipper on her skirt, letting it fall to the ground. Now she just stood there in her underwear, utterly humiliated. 

Her arms flew to cover chest out of instinct. 

"All of it." The lion demanded. "Don't stop the flow of energy."

'Flow of energy my ass. Is this how you get your kicks? By humiliating your victims before you devour them.'

Mari so badly wanted to refuse and tell him where he could shove it, but she knew that doing so would mean getting her throat ripped out by him if she did so. Even though he hadn't directly touched her, his gaze alone made her feel disgusting the more she revealed herself to him. With trembling hands, she pulled off her socks and shoes, with her bra and panty.

"I want you to know," He says. "I don't want to do anything to disgrace you."

'We're way past that, bud.' Mari thought bitterly.

With her arms covering her more "private" areas, she stood tall before the lion. She had her pride as a human and she refused to let this monster take that away from her. Despite staying true to his word, his stare still made her uneasy. Although, it felt more like he was looking through or past her and not at her. 

He then pulls a remote from his jacket and presses a button. A noise of gears in motion echos in the room. Mari turned and saw a portion of the wall opening, revealing a lavish looking bathroom. It had a beautiful, white oval tub filled with steaming water and flower petals floating on the surface. Despite how serene it looked, Mari knew that it didn't mean anything good and the lions next words proved her right. 

"This is a necessary process, in order to prepare you. So I can enjoy you as the best meat."

Mari's blood ran cold. 

'If anyone is on their way to save, for the love of Rex, hurry the hell up, please!'

I apologize y'all for the inactivity for so long. I'm close to graduating college right now and I've been doing field experience hours as part of my degree so I have had no time at all to write for fun. I'm so happy that I finally got some time to put a chapter out. Thank you all so much for your patience and support!