An Oddity Among Beasts (BEASTARS)

Within Grasp

    Alan woke up uneasy, thoughts running a mile a minute with ways his confession would go wrong. What will everyone think when they find out he's The Riser? Sure, they'd be angry and shocked, but what about after that? Would it even change? Will the tension come back and make everything worse? And what about the Drama Club?

His heart skipped a beat as that crossed his mind. Bill seemed unsure of The Riser when the first story came out, and seemed absolutely enraged by the second one. Would he calm down if he knew it was Alan, though? He didn't worry much about the others, but Bill and Legosi were the biggest outliers—albeit on different levels. He'd expect the tiger to be angry, but with the wolf...

He sighed, looking in the mirror and steeling his face, "I'll cross them when I come to them."

~~*~~

"Hey. It's me again..."

    Alan smiled slightly at the picture of the alpaca. He didn't visit the memorial ever since he met Legosi and Louis. The thought was there, but he didn't want to make it a habit. Part of him wanted to forget and move on, but he couldn't. As much as he felt like he should, he refused to let it escape his memory. Even with the play and The Riser stories, he still kept Tem in mind.

"I know we only ever spoke once, but I want you to know I won't forget you!", he said firmly as he clutched his backpack.

"I...I have a secret.", the human whispered. "It's important to me because of what it means in this world, and if anyone found out, I'd lose everything."

He sighed as he heard a heavy set of footsteps not far from him, "I don't know enough about you to guess how you'd react. I'm not sure if you'd even want to be friends with me if you knew, but I feel like you would've accepted me either way."

"I think he would.", he perked up, looking behind him to see Riz.

"You really think so?", he asked.

The bear nodded, "I was pretty close to him. He was always nice to me and everyone in the club. He seemed to accept everyone, carnivore or herbivore."

Alan lowered his gaze, "I don't know about myself, though."

Riz tilted his head slightly, "Is your secret really that bad?"

"Of course it—", he stopped for a moment before sighing. "Not on the surface, but given where I am right now, it feels bigger than it should be."

He held his head in his hands, "I never thought about it until I came here. It's because I spent most of my life away from the city— away from animals! At first, I didn't think too hard about it, but then Tem died. Ever since then, I've been questioning humans' place in this world. What purpose do we serve if we don't have immense strength or instincts that let us evade danger? I try to keep away from it, but it's impossible!"

    Alan could feel tears coming to his eyes, trying to let out the bubbling broth of emotions inside. He pushed them down, he can't let it out. If he does, he'll let loose his frustrations of the world and the life he was given. He didn't want to say it around Tem, out of the fear that he'd be disrespecting him as an animal and a herbivore. He wouldn't change them, but the least he could do was keep them under wraps.

He took a shaking breath, "What purpose do I have here?"

A heavy weight gently set itself on his head, "I think you're here to keep everyone happy."

He looked up at the bear, "Keep them happy?"

"Mhmm. When the exchange program was announced, everyone was excited. Some of us had never seen a human in our lives, and they're barely seen in the city. We were all curious about you, so when you finally came, it felt like a big change was coming."

Alan blinked, "Riz..."

A bzzt sounded off, making the two jump. Alan dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

"Hello?"

"A-Alan!"

"Todd?", he asked worriedly, "What's wrong?"

"I think someone's following me. I'm at the side of the clubs building, hurry!", he hung up after that.

"Todd? Todd!", he said before pocketing his phone and getting up.

"What's wrong?", Riz asked.

"Something happened. I gotta go!"

The human didn't waste any time, running out the lecture hall and to the building within minutes. He looked around before seeing a figure in the bushes against the wall. He went closer to find Todd, the goat sweating bullets and looking as if he'd seen a ghost. He brightened up once he saw Alan.

"What happened?", he asked.

"I don't know. When I was coming out of my class, I felt like someone was watching me. When I started walking, it didn't let up— so I panicked and ran out here. It didn't go away at all!"

Alan looked around, "Well, it doesn't seem like anyone else is here."

"I wouldn't say that.", a voice said to the side of them. They looked over to see a black fox standing at the corner of the building.

"What do you want?", Alan asked as he stepped in front of Todd.

The fox smirked, "I just want to talk. Specifically, to you. I've been watching you for awhile now, and I found your secret."

"Well, we were gonna confess today, anyway.", Todd said.

"Not that secret.", the fox nodded towards Alan. "His secret. I know about your other self."

He stiffened, "My what?"

"Don't play dumb, you know what I'm talking about. It's ironic, isn't it? You made stories about carnivores taming their inner selves, and yet you hide yours."

"Shut up.", he said icily.

"If you want me to, you'll have to catch me.", the fox smirked before running off with Alan following.

"Alan, wait!", Todd called after them. The three sprinted around the building before heading inside, Todd barely keeping up with the other two. He could sense the human's anger, and it was rising fast. They soon stopped at a certain pair of doors, the fox smirking as he stood in front of them.

"Wow, I have to hand it to ya.", he panted. "You really gave me a run for my money."

"How do you know about it?", Alan asked.

"I already told you, I've been watching. Honestly, it's a wonder you didn't catch me before—even with all your shifting around."

"What do you want?"

"I want you to say it.", the fox said, gesturing behind the human. "Tell it to him."

"Alan, you don't have to.", Todd said gently. "He doesn't have any leverage against us."

"Not against you, maybe.", he crossed his arms. "I could go down to the PR team right now and tell them his secret myself. How's that for levera—"

He didn't finish, as the human charged him through the doors.