The Curse of Beasts (BEASTARS)

No Matter What

In The Ghetto, there are certain things you pick up on. Actions, movements, even manners of speaking can tell a lot about a person's behavior or attitude towards certain things. For example, short and quiet answers to questions may suggest apprehension to the topic or a lack of trust. Sporadic or "twitchy" behaviors may suggest someone to be an addict or one who's severely struggling to contain their instincts. Some can be easy to spot, but others require a keen eye. Even then, you'd have to be accustomed to life within such a place to know who to watch out for...

Which is why Gouhin could immediately tell something was up with Legosi and Alan. That, and they were pretty shit at hiding it.

The wolf had come in late, which was somewhat uncommon. It had happened on a few occasions, but the human's appearance made it a little suspicious. What made it even more weird was that he barely interacted with the panda at all! Maybe a small glance here and there, but this time his gaze was low. Not only that, but his entire body language seemed...depressed?

There wasn't an exact word to describe it, but that seemed to be the closest one. He was slouched forward, arms looking almost lifeless and his jacket zipped all the way up to his chin. At least with Legosi, his fur would be able to keep it from brushing against him, but it was different for Alan. He clearly looked uncomfortable, yet he kept it that way.

Gouhin's suspicions only became clearer once they went out. Alan lagged behind him and Legosi, with the wolf throwing more than a few worried glances back. The human kept his slouched composure from the sidelines as he watched the two carnivores work together. Though he did freeze up a few times as he watched them, they managed pretty well.

The real problem came when they were looking for a coyote patient. He was one of the panda's "urgent cases" due to his history of aggressive behavior. He didn't kill anyone, but did severely injure a few people when at a party. This brought him to The Ghetto— and subsequently, under the panda's watch. He was in a paranoid state as he walked the streets alone, constantly looking over his shoulder.

The plan was to flank him from both sides— Legosi on one, and Gouhin on the other. Gouhin went first to try his usual tactics, but the coyote got defensive immediately. Once he started in the other direction, Legosi came out while Alan stayed to the sidelines. The bad part of this was, however, that the human was on the ground with them. Not only that, but the wolf seemed distracted as he fought. So once the coyote got an opening, he became a target as well.

Surprisingly, it didn't go exactly the way Gouhin expected. As the coyote sped past the wolf to the human (who was masked), he waited until the last moment to throw a punch. It made him stumble, and only seemed to anger him as he went for a bite. Legosi managed to get in front of Alan and take the hit to one of his arms. After that, he managed to knock the addict out cold before any more damage was done.

It was close, but it didn't have to be that way.

Those two had something going on between them, and the panda was going to find out. Legosi was a no-go because of his injury from the coyote, and also because he wasn't the one the panda was curious about. That would be Alan, who stayed silent the whole time— even when Legosi got hurt! He would've surely jumped to the wolf's aid in a heartbeat, but he didn't now. Even through the few times he'd seen them, Gouhin knew they at least cared about each other's well being. Now, though, it seemed different...almost one-sided.

Once Legosi was in another room treating his injury and Alan was alone, the panda decided to find out what happened between them.

"You've got some explaining to do.", he crossed his arms as he looked at the human, who held a bored expression.