The Curse of Beasts (BEASTARS)

Into Hell's Cradle

Louis is their boss.

Louis is their boss.

Louis is their boss...

    That sentence replayed in Alan's head constantly, almost like a mantra. He felt like his mind had completely shut down with that one piece of knowledge remaining. Why? Why would Louis, of all people, lead The Shishigumi?! More importantly, what reason would he have to be in The Ghetto? If he even went a few feet in there, he'd have been killed or kidnapped himself. Juno said the deer "let society decide that for him", but there had to be more than that.

Alan refused to believe he'd be so simple-minded, he knew that for a fact!

So, he decided to take a chance.

~~*~~

    The air was chilled, almost a warning as to what the human was about to do. He spurred on, though, already hardening himself the moment he entered The Ghetto. He could still remember the route he took from the lions' lair when Legosi rescued him and Haru, and made sure to keep an eye out for a certain duo. He'd be verbally massacred if either one of them caught him— well, one most-definitely would, while the other would probably be frozen in shock. They didn't need to know, though, nobody did.

This was something Alan alone decided, and no one was going to change that.

    Behind the mask, his face was stoic, heart pounding slowly. He didn't feel any unease, just a void that demanded his questions be answered. It wasn't for Juno or anyone else, but himself. Louis was someone he admired more than anyone else— his stance, his power, his authority. He honestly wished he was born with that in mind, then he wouldn't be in the position he was now. Not only that, but part of him believed that he'd be the one to help him decide whether to leave or not.

The only path for him now was straight ahead.

"Hey!"

He stopped, blinking silently as he found himself near the gates of the dark building— and a suited lion in front of him with a gun in hand.

"What are you doing here, kid?", the feline asked with a raised eyebrow. "Don't you know where you are?"

"I'm here to speak to your boss."

"What?!", he was taken aback before laughing. "Why the hell would the boss want to talk to a little wolf for?! You're wasting your time, now go home before you get yourself hurt."

The human sighed internally, Damn felines...

He held his hands up slowly, "Well as you can see, I'm wearing a mask right now. Do you think you could take it off for me?"

The lion looked him over as if sizing him up, "Fine, but one wrong move and your body's gonna end up on the floor."

    It took a lot of restraint for Alan not to scoff at the threat, knowing it wouldn't hold any weight once the mask was off. He knew from the kidnapping that he was special to The Shishigumi— or rather, their previous boss because of his "gourmet" tastes. In the end, none of them knew he was part-wolf. The only one that possibly did was the boss, but he most-likely died before he could spread the word. It was all in-theory, but it was enough for him to take the risk.

Once the mask was pulled off his head, he felt a bit of satisfaction at the lion's expression changing to surprise.

"What the hell?!", he took a step back. "You're a human!"

"Yes, I am.", he spoke plainly. "I'm sure you already know this, but humans are a rarity these days. With that in mind, I'm sure your boss would be very interested in seeing me."