Beastars:

A Jackal's Smile

Beastars © Itagaki Paru

Riza © Me

Summary- Legosi consoles a black-backed jackal female who accidentally hurts her best friend.

It was a crisp autumn night at the Cherryton School. It was sometime after the Meteor Festival, after the whole fiasco with Haru the dwarf rabbit getting kidnapped by the Shishigumi Mafia...and Louis the red deer, lead actor of the drama club, disappeared without a trace. It had to have been at least a week, by now, and yet it seemed that life returned relatively to normal for the students.

Right now, the students were getting ready to bed down for the night and prepare for classes tomorrow. Among them was a certain large-breed gray wolf who always seemed to keep to himself: Legosi, who was currently in the washrooms with Jack the Yellow Labrador, who was brushing his teeth.

"Ow..." he muttered as he looked down at his arm where the leader of the Shishigumi clawed him. "Damn...it still hurts a little. I think I better check with the nurse, tomorrow."

"I hope you're not getting sepsis," said Jack, worriedly. "That's the last thing you need, right now."

Legosi didn't speak, but he did appreciate Jack's concern. Ever since what happened with the Shishigumi, the Yellow Lab hardly left the gray wolf's side even more so than usual. Perhaps he was afraid he'd disappear on him if he ever turned his back on him for more than five seconds. Miguno, Durham, Voss, and Collot all poked fun at him for it, but they could also understand Jack's concern, even though they were often going about, doing their own things.

As Legosi and Jack headed out and to the dorms...the former suddenly tensed up and stopped in his tracks, then turned his head to look outside one of the windows, where he could see the half-moon in the sky.

"Hmm?" Jack hummed, inquisitively. "What's wrong, Legosi?"

"...Do you...smell blood?" Legosi asked, and almost instantly, Jack's stomach dropped, his tail drooped, and his face paled.

Before either of the two canines even knew what was happening, they found themselves rushing outside to the campus. Jack was calling out to Legosi to slow down so that he could keep up. After all, wolves were naturally faster than Labradors. The moment they were outside...they both gaped in shock.

There was the sound of panting...the smell of blood in the air...and in front of them, a black-backed jackal female, about as tall as Jack, wearing a thick blue sweater, but nothing on her legs as she sat on her knees...where the two male carnivores saw a female springbok lying on the ground...with blood pooling around her.

"W...what...what happened here?!" Jack asked...causing the jackal to turn to them, her body quivering uncontrollably. Legosi's eyes went wide as he saw the blood smeared around her clawed fingers and her mouth...and her eyes welling with tears.

"...Help..." she whispered. "I...I think I killed her...!"

XXX

It was 15 minutes later when the ambulance came and took the springbok away in a stretcher. Almost the entire student body came out to see what the commotion was about. They watched as the ambulance soon drove off to the hospital, its sirens blaring and lights flashing as it disappeared beyond the road.

"What happened?"

"A female jackal attacked a springbok student."

"What?! Oh, jeez, first Tem and now this?!"

"...You don't think she's behind his murder, do you?"

"No. She would've confessed to it by now, wouldn't she?"

"Where is she, now, anyway?"

"I don't know...I think that gray wolf from earlier came and dragged her off."

"You mean Legosi? Wasn't he the one who called the ambulance?"

At the school's gym, away from the students that had gathered...Legosi sat on the steps with the jackal, who shivered as she sat next to him. She was holding a cigarette between her fingers, taking a small drag and puffing out smoke. She sighed as she looked down at the ground, her tail curled around her and her knees drawn up to her chest.

It was a typical instinct for nervous canines. They tended to curl their tails between their legs in an attempt to show submission. Legosi knew that all too well.

"...You shouldn't smoke on school grounds," he said.

"Shut up," the jackal hissed. "I know I shouldn't smoke, but it's the only way I can feel calm."

Legosi didn't respond to that. He didn't want to make her mad...she was already upset. Though she had wiped off most of it, he could still smell the blood on her mouth and her fingertips.

"...Um...so...?" Legosi started.

"My name is Riza, if that's what you're going to ask," the jackal spoke.

"...Okay, Riza," Legosi acknowledged. "So...the springbok...is she a friend of yours?"

"...Yes," Riza answered. "Her name was Mei-chan."

"What happened?" Legosi asked.

"...I...I don't even know," Riza replied as she put her hand to her head in frustration. "It happened so fast! One minute, we were talking...and the next...I just grabbed her and...she was at my feet...!" She gritted her teeth as she felt her tears come back. "I...I don't know what happened!"

"N-now, wait don't get frustrated," Legosi said. "It's okay...just...try and think back."

Riza sighed, stamping out her cigarette as she looked up at the night sky.

"...It started at dinner," she said. "I was sitting with Mei at breakfast...and Mei-chan asked me something."

Flashback

"Hey, Riza-chan. How come you don't smile?"

Riza glanced over at the springbok sitting next to her at the cafeteria, taking a bite of her bean steak.

"What?" the jackal asked after she swallowed. "Where'd this come from, all of a sudden?"

"I'm just saying," said Mei. "I hardly ever see you smile."

Riza's ear twitched a bit before she looked down at her food.

"You...wouldn't want to see me smile," she said.

"What are you talking about?" Mei inquired as she propped her elbows up on the table with her chin in her hands. "I bet you have a cute smile."

Riza didn't really look at her...but her tail wagged back and forth behind her, which made Mei giggled.

"Did that make you happy?" she asked.

"Shut up," was Riza's only reply as she kept eating, but her tail was still wagging, which only made her herbivore friend laugh more.

"It did make me happy when she said that I have a cute smile...but...even though I was happy, I didn't want to smile...I didn't want to show her my fangs."

That night, Riza was about to head to the dorms after brushing her teeth and getting dressed for the night, but as she headed out...she saw Mei standing in front of her.

"M-Mei-chan..." Riza muttered. "What are you doing here? You should be in the herbivore female dorms."

"...I just wanted to talk to you," Mei answered as she approached the jackal. "Can we go outside?"

"...Okay," Riza answered as she went outside with the springbok, both of them sitting under a tree together. Riza reached into the pocket of her sweater and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, one of which she took out and lit up before she took a drag and puffed out some smoke.

"You really picked up a bad habit, huh?" asked Mei. "How long have been doing that, anyway?"

"Only a few months," Riza answered.

"...Riza-chan," Mei said. "Why don't you smile?"

"You're asking that, again?" asked Riza. "I told you, you wouldn't like my smile."

"What's wrong with it?" Mei asked.

"It's not that there's anything wrong with it," Riza answered. "I just can't do it."

"Well, why not?" Mei urged as she grabbed Riza's sleeve.

"...You're an herbivore," said Riza. "Your instincts should tell you why."

"W...what?" Mei asked, confused.

"...Don't you know what happens," Riza began as she turned to the female springbok, "when an herbivore sees that fangs of a carnivore?"

As she said this...Mei felt her breath hitch in her chest as she saw Riza's fangs glinting in the moonlight. Then, her leg involuntarily twitched.

"Mei-chan tried to hide it...but I could see it, clearly...she was about to run away. The sight of my fangs scared her too much."

Mei suddenly turned around and ran, and Riza gasped before she stood up.

"I only meant to stop her so that I could talk to her...but...when I caught up to her, it was a blur!"

Riza grabbed Mei...her claws digging into her left bicep. The next thing the jackal knew...she growled at the scent of blood before she opened her jaws...

Flashback end

"...I didn't mean to hurt her..." Riza whispered as she hugged herself. "I didn't mean it...! And now, she could be dead and it's all my fault! I killed my best friend!"

Legosi's ears drooped a bit as he stared at the jackal, who choked back sobs as her tears spilled from her eyes.

"...And you know what else?" asked Riza. "I bet they think...that I killed that alpaca, Tem. I'll probably end up going to jail."

"...If you really killed Tem," Legosi began, "wouldn't you have said something, by now?"

"...So...you don't think I did it, then?" the jackal queried while sniffling.

"No," Legosi replied, "and I also know...that you didn't mean to hurt Mei. You were afraid to smile...because you knew she'd react that way, didn't you?"

"...Carnivores are forbidden to show their fangs in public," Riza replied. "When an herbivore sees a carnivore's fangs, their first instinct is to run away...and when they're cornered, their next instinct is to fight back as much as they can...but...Mei couldn't fight back. Her horns had been blunted down to keep herself from accidentally injuring any students. It's the law." She then looked at Legosi. "You...you seem to know a lot about this kind of stuff...don't you?"

"You'd be surprised," Legosi quipped.

"Heh," Riza chuckled, mirthlessly. "I'm almost not surprised. After all, your girlfriend's a bunny."

Legosi blushed heavily at that.

"Well...we're not...really a couple," he said, causing Riza to give him a double-take.

"Really?" she asked. "But...what about those rumors that you and her-"

"We did sleep together," Legosi began, "but...nothing really happened." He then looked to Riza. "Look...I'm sure Mei is gonna be all right...and you might get suspended, but you won't go to jail...at least, I hope."

"...I wanna believe you," Riza said, "but...I think it's best if I do."

"...Well...I guess if you made up your mind, I can't stop you," Legosi replied, "but...before you do...maybe tomorrow, you should go see Mei in the hospital and apologize to her."

"What if she doesn't want to see me?" asked Riza.

"Then you tried, at least," Legosi answered.

"...Okay," Riza whispered as she stood up. "I'm...I'm gonna go pack up my things." Then she turned and walked away, but then stopped. "...Hey...Legosi, right?"

"Uh-huh," Legosi nodded.

"...Thanks," Riza replied before she turned around...giving him a broad, toothy smile. "I needed that."

A pause...but then Legosi smiled back and nodded his head.

4 days after the incident, Riza was suspended from school. Normally, she would have gone to jail, but her father, a wealthy athlete, managed to pull some strings for her (despite Riza's insistence that she should've gone to jail in the first place). The jackal female took this time to visit Mei, who had thankfully survived the incident and held no ill will toward her carnivore friend. The worst she got away with was some scars on her arm, which she actually thought were pretty cool.

Ever since...Riza learned to smile without showing her fangs.

My very first Beastars fic. ^^

You guys probably didn't notice, but I got into this series about a year-and-a-half ago. I think it's absolutely fantastic and realistic about a world full of anthropomorphic animals. It's kinda like a darker version of Zootopia (as I'm sure many have said).

I might decide to do more, but for now, there's just this.

Review, please!