Beastars: The story of Itsuki "Blackjack" Kaneko

Ch.1 A Heavy Rain

A shadowy figure sits on a lonely bench heavy rain drenching him, crowds of carnivores bustling around umbrellas in hand as they seek shelter from this merciless storm, one dog stops shaking his fur out as they are prone to do flinging rain onto nearby passerby's, unfortunately for him a pair of Shishigumi were part of those drenched by his antics, balling a fist the taller of the two Shishigumi holding a umbrella decked the poor canine knocking him to the ground then proceeds to start kicking him in the ribs "You mangy fucking dog! You know how much this suit costs?!" the lion barked out kicking him one last time "I'm...S-sorry..." the dog squeaks out coughing up blood as he cowers holding his bruised ribs "Aki enough, he's had enough..." the smaller lion pleads pulling his buddy by the arm "Mangy Mutt..." the large lion sneers being led away still fuming, the dog laid on that wet ground for a bit before picking himself up shuffling off, a pretty common encounter so close to the Back Alley Market.

He let loose a sigh watching that dog stumble away before looking back down at the ground in deep thought before looking down at his hands, his left a strong clawed hand, the right a gloved prosthetic, a permanent reminder of that "Place" balling up his hands in anger remembering those countless days of hell, a deep exhale followed as he riffled through his coat pocket for his cigarettes, he sat in silence a lit cigarette hanging from his mouth as he stared off into space "It will be done, Malachi..." he spoke cigarette hanging from his lips smoke escaping into the air around him, he winced trying not to bite his cigarette in half as a pain shot through his left leg settling in the tip of what used to be his toes, stomping his prosthetic leg he stood up from the bench casting aside the remainder of his cigarette when the pain finally subsided something else caught his attention "Please help me!" A scream tore through the air as well as the scent of blood dashing through the streets he tore his way down a alley hand on his gun, seeing a scantly clad drooling cougar biting the exposed breast of a doe who strangely enough wore a pair of antlers "Hey Cat Toy over here!" He yelled firing a bullet into the wall behind the cougar making her jump away from the shocked doe "Stay out of this she's mine!" She roared her claws shining brightly against the gray stone as she bolted bounding down the alley, he rose his gun widening his stance as she approached, she jumped to a nearby wall before leaping for his jugular but she didn't find her mark, he did the foot of his prosthetic leg striking her hard in the neck sending her into a nearby wall smashing her head off the wall, stunned by the strike the cougar legs nearly went limp as she struggled to stand, blood pouring down her face, holstering his gun he raised his fist in a defensive stance ducking a surprise swipe of the cougars claws, he landed three good hard punches to her gut before sliding behind her pulling her arm behind her back and gripping her head his claws digging into her scalp as he sends her head deeply into the wall with a sickening crunch, blood poured like a fountain from the destroyed predators face as she slumped into a puddle of blood, fangs and teeth scattering around her as the victor straightened himself up approaching the shaking doe, the antlers she wore slipped from her head clanking on the ground, she looked up at her savior, a large old lion his ginger mane accented by graying patches, his large amber eyes wild shaking the poor doe to her core, closing her eyes she shook pitifully "Hey...look at me." She heard a deep rumbling voice say in a concerned tone, peeking slightly her eyes met his eyes again they have softened filled with compassion and a deep sadness she couldn't begin to understand this left her speechless "You're safe..." He repeated a few times till she regained control of her body still shaking softly "Can you walk?" The lion said offering his hand taking it she rose on shaking legs struggling to stand, he offered his suit jacket to cover herself and his arm for balance slowly making their way out of the alley she became more aware of her surroundings "Hey look at me...you don't want to see whats left, trust me..." The lion said softly, understanding what he meant she looked up at him as they walked feeling at that moment a overwhelming desire to repay her savior  but feared she never could "Thank you..." she peeped out unaware the old lion heard smiling slightly as they left the alley and took off into the busy streets