The Curse of Beasts (BEASTARS)

A Vice Drenched in Red

    Alan felt uplifted after his day out with Todd, and their friendship was stronger from it! The goat was there from the moment he enrolled, and always consoled him. It was hard for him to explain, but having the goat around made his troubles seem minor. They were still there, without a doubt, but it felt like they were beyond his mind. When they were in the canine area at B-Strike, he felt a change in himself. It may have happened even before their conversation once they completed the game.

    He couldn't help feeling excited there, as it reminded him of a good point in his life. He never thought about his past directly, given how much changed. It would only make him sad and most-likely angry because of how irreversible it all is. It was closed off in his mind, never to see the light of day again. He didn't have any concern for it because he was having so much fun. The canine in him loved Give and Take, which gave way to his energized state. It wasn't until he recounted the last time he played it that his memory bore its way to the surface.

    In a way, it was melancholic for him. It felt nice to remember the happy days, at least in a small way. As fast as the memory was brought up, it was quickly snuffed by the knowledge that those days were gone. It didn't make him feel sad, though, only numb. Perhaps at a different point, he would've felt sad. He possibly could have broken down into tears because of it, but all he did was freeze up. Was it normal? Did he exhaust himself of all his feelings about his past?

Was it even worth thinking about anymore?

~~*~~

"You look a lot happier.", Riz noted.

"I had a day out with my roommate.", Alan smiled. "It helped give me some perspective, so I thought I'd try to loosen up a little."

"Does that mean you'll be alright for now?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, "Eh, it kind of depends. I still have some things on my mind, but I'll do my best not to let them take over."

    The end of the year is coming fast, and the Drama Club had to do preparations for the performance in the new year. It gave Alan another excuse to try out the "smile more" method Pina suggested, though it wasn't really needed due to the boost Todd gave him. He felt content, almost happy with where he was now. It wasn't complete, though, with more than a few issues lingering. He'd solve them on his own time, nevertheless, but for now, he'd focus on helping out his friends in the club.

    For example, he was helping Riz move some of the lighting equipment. It wasn't too heavy for him, but he couldn't carry too much at once. At most, he could carry a pile of wires with Riz handling the lights themselves. He couldn't help noticing the bear carrying them so easily, almost like they were lightweight in his hands! Now that he thought about it, it made sense given what he knew about bears in general.

    Riz was clearly capable of a lot, even with strength restrainers. Alan recalled him talking about the headaches he'd get in the morning because of them, but he had honey as a quick-fix. As cliche as it is— and it very much is, he didn't mind it. It was about as much of a quirk as Legosi's ear twitch, although he only saw it once as opposed to multiple times.

    As he set the wires down, his mind went back to the rooftop. Looking back, it was a stretch to say that Tem's killer was actually after him. Maybe it was a case of unfortunate timing, and he just happened to bump into the alpaca before he died. At the time, though, none of it mattered to him. Someone died and he felt like he was the real target. Was he really, though? Did he even have the right to mention Tem when he barely knew him? Thinking about it now just made him feel guilty for snapping at the group back then.

"Riz...", he started quietly. "About what happened on the rooftop..."

"It's okay.", the bear said. "You had every right to be angry. You probably felt like you were always in danger, right?"

Alan shifted, "Well, not at first. I only started feeling this way recently because..."

He trailed off, brows furrowed in frustration. Great, the doubt is starting up again.

"Alan...", Riz touched his shoulder. "You know you can—"

    A scream cut him off, and it seemed to echo throughout the whole room. The human didn't want to look, already knowing that whatever he was about to see, was bad. Riz didn't say anything, only staring frozen. Against his better judgment, he looked, but he instantly froze up himself. His mind began to blur immediately, all thought stopping as he took in the sight before him and everyone else.

K-Kibi...

The anteater was on the floor, trembling. His right arm, separated and a few feet away from him.

    Alan's breath hitched, body moving backward until he hit the wall. The noises faded, blending into numbness in his ears. He looked around, seeing Aoba try to help Kibi but to no avail. The anteater was terrified, crying! Bill was holding a jaguar, who looked panicked. Legosi was frozen in place like most of the others, though somehow not as stressed. Whether it was because of his training in The Ghetto or something else, he didn't know nor could he think about it.

    He shook as he tried to ground himself, shutting his eyes to keep from focusing on the situation. If he broke in front of them now, he'd never be left alone! Legosi was enough, and he could take the occasional glances. However, if everyone saw just how badly he reacted to this, he'd be beside himself with guilt! He shouldn't be the one to be worried about, far from it.

    The human peeked briefly, seeing Legosi carrying Kibi gingerly. A sudden pang in his chest made him shut his eyes again, stumbling over and clutching his chest tightly. His heart was pounding hard inside, almost like it was trying to break out! His heavy breathing didn't help, either, nor did his blurring vision. The world shifted and turned around him as he tried to snap out of it.

I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine!, he repeated to himself. I'm alive, I'm okay...

"Just give it up.", a rough, almost cold voice said suddenly.

He opened his eyes, finding himself in a familiar bare room.

No, please no...

~~*~~

A.N: Ooh, boy. This is bound to turn some heads, huh? If I'm being honest, I was not looking forward to this part at all. I can handle gore, for the most part, but the jump from 0 to 100 here is way too fast!

Seriously, in the manga we go from girl talk about fashion to literally ripping a guy's arm off! I don't know if I should be impressed or scared at how crazy a shift that was. The first time I saw it, I'm pretty sure I had to take a few minutes to process the moment it happened before going on.

However, if you couldn't tell, I didn't focus on that. As much fun as it would be to put in as much gruesome detail as possible about an anteater getting his limb ripped off, I think it's time I had something big happen...