Epilogue: Meeting the Parents
"They'll love you for sure." Juno beamed beside Legosi, the two walking down the pathway between the houses in the suburb that Juno knew in and out. In his other hand was the suitcase handle, the bulky case rolling over the floor. The sky was a dark orange and purple that slowly turned darker and darker, the train ride to the other side of town taking longer than expected, both of them arriving late in the evening.
Of course, it would be a lie to say that Legosi wasn't nervous. The now eighteen-year-old wolf visiting his girlfriend's family for the first time ever. It was something that, of course, was a bit outside of his comfort zone but in the end, he didn't complain. To make Juno happy he would go just about anywhere.
"I know, I'm a young handsome wolf with the Beastars title. No reason to be nervous." Legosi recounted what Juno had told him just on the train ride. Juno giggled while her hand brushed over the back of his head, soothing him a bit.
"There is no way that mom and dad would dislike you. Amara might be a bit quiet but that's certainly not because of you, that's just how she is." Juno's hand on his head counteracted some of the anxieties while the excitement in her voice made him eager to meet her parents.
"Amara was the quiet one right?" Legosi asked, Juno's hand now away from his head grasping his hand.
"Yep. Always a brooding thinker that's her. She'll probably be more preoccupied with her own mind than anything else."
"And Hoshiko?" Legosi rattled off the list like following a protocol.
"She'll probably talk about her business school and plans on starting her own company… once again more occupied with herself than you, even though she will ask questions more likely than Amara will." Juno casually explained, her hand still holding his tightly. She swung her hip slightly into his side.
"Don't be so worried. It's not like you have anything to hide, they won't care that you're a hybrid. They will care that you make me happy, and that's everything that matters." Juno's words were sweet like honey and yet there was still the faint buzz of nervousness in the back of his mind.
Legosi slowly came to the realization that he would never truly get rid of all the fear, but that was ok. What mattered was the moment in itself, not the fear of it happening. And he knew overall that the fear had weakened after telling Juno that he was a hybrid. He knew that he had her faith so he would know that he was in safe hands.
They came to a halt right before a fence door. The fence was a solid wood painted in a tan coloring that blocked the view of the house's backyard. Yet the quaint and comfortable red brick family home's second floor peaked above the fences, light coming from a few of the rooms up there.
Before Legosi could make another comment to try and vent his raising nervousness the wolfess had moved in front of him, looking up at his face. She planted her hands firmly on his cheeks, softly letting her thumbs feel through the fur.
"We're Beastars. There's nothing we couldn't handle." Legosi smiled at Juno, delighted at her loving voice.
"That we are." Legosi dipped down and kissed Juno, the two hugging just outside of her childhood home. After they separated, Juno grabbed for the key in her pocket and let it sink into the lock, turning with a slight tug and a little rattling of the key in the door.
"Dad said he would fix this damn door." Juno's face showed a few lines of frustration as she finally unlocked the door, which swung open with a creak of the hinges, obviously needing tending too. Juno stepped through first, Legosi peeking through the open door into the garden.
What he saw were lovely smelling flower fields framed by bricks placed in lovely patterns. The front garden looked like a beautiful display of creativity and showed the utmost dedication. Whoever tended to this garden loved and cared for it like Legosi himself cared for Kabu.
"Are you gonna come or just stand there gawking at the front yard." Juno's quip made Legosi look at her in surprise and enter the brick path in front of him, closing the fence door behind him which fell into the lock with a click.
He followed Juno over the lovely little path while his nose twitched with the many smells of the flowers. If the trip starts like this then I can't wait what her parents are like.
The slight fear persisted in the moment but the warm and welcoming feeling eased some of the unsureness. And there they stood before the front door, the wood concealed by dark wine red paint which went well with the red brick exterior of the modest two-story family home.
Juno lightly squeezed Legosi's arm, encouraging him with a loving look. He responded with a smile
Juno held up her finger to the left of the door, pressing the small grey button above the house number.
The resounding chiming of the doorbell sounded through the home, a near thrill of a sound that lightly alerted the inhabitants that a guest was at the door. And shortly after a voice rang out from behind the door.
"Coming." Spoke the older female voice from behind the door. Legosi's heart raced as his mind jumped to his own mother for a second while he awaited the door to open. And just as quickly as he saw his mother before his eyes as soon did he hear her soothing voice tell him to keep calm. And like that he began to slowly relax.
The door opened a few moments later to reveal a middle-aged Wolfess. Her fur was a similar shade of red as the bricks that the outside walls were made of with a few lines becoming a fiery red along her face and head, grey fur intermixing to slowly blend into her cream-colored jaw.
"Mom!" Juno jumped forward into the wolfess's arms, immediately being enveloped by the red arms that petted her daughter's head.
"Juno, I missed you, my little flower." Her mother endearingly answered, nuzzling her daughter's head.
Legosi found that his chest grew warm seeing Juno's mother for the first time. The red wolfess made it no mystery where Juno's overly calm and pleasant temperament came from. And suddenly Legosi was caught inside of his thoughts when a pair of strikingly green eyes looked directly at him.
"And this tall drink of water must be the Legosi that I heard so much about." The older wolfess said while her daughter broke the hug to stand by Legosi's side.
"Mom, this is my boyfriend Legosi. Legosi, this is my mom." Juno did the typical introduction of both parties to each other, while Legosi in his mind felt the slight pressure to regain strength.
"Hello madam, it's nice to meet you." Legosi bowed down low before the wolfess, doing his best to make a respectful first impression. The wolfess began to chuckle.
"Come here and give me a hug, there's nothing to be scared of young man." The wolfess came forward and laid her arms around the tall wolf's shoulders, gently pulling him down to her level without much effort.
"Oh rex you're tall, but that ain't gonna stop me from hugging a member of the family." Legosi at first was surprised by the sudden gesture of kindness but quickly patted Juno's mother's back, accepting the warm gesture of love.
They broke the hug and the wolfess made a hand movement ushering them in.
"Now come on, dinner's almost ready you two." The wolfess slipped back deeper into the warm lighting of the house, leaving the two standing before the door. Legosi's eyes went over to Juno who was giggling at the surprise of her mate.
"I told you it would be fine."
"I can't just turn off worrying…" Juno once again warmly squeezed his arm.
"Well, here you're safe…" The two exchanged looks and Juno crept up to his side, the two embracing.
"They are gonna like you ok, what's there not to love."
"But if-" Juno kissing him entirely interrupted his sentence, leaving him to just accept the kiss and then look into her amethyst eyes again afterward.
"Get out of your own head for a while, there are no buts and ifs here…" Juno looked stern and lovingly at him, the type of look that no one with a heartbeat could resist.
"okay…"
And so the two wolves, Beastars, mates walked into Juno's home, enveloped by the warm lighting.
The first thing to really set in was that homely smell of both scented candles and room spray. The air smelled clean with notes of lavender just ever so often sipping through his nose and tickling him in its sweetness. The second part was the hardwood interior, dark floors with lovely carpets placed everywhere. The lighting itself most specifically came from white fairy lights stapled along the lines of the ceiling and walls meeting.
It felt much more like a home than Gosha's apartment ever could. Not that he didn't take care of it but the memories would never pass.
"You can hang your jacket here." Juno took her own beige jacket and hung it in the wardrobe to the right of the door. She wore a long red-sleeved red shirt with just a plain pair of jeans. Even in a most ordinary outfit did Juno manage to have this child-like energy, showing this purity that made Legosi smirk slightly.
Legosi took his own dark blue jacket off, revealing a light blue button-down shirt, his jeans being the best pair he owned. Juno's first reaction to the outfit was to laugh at how hard the wolf was trying to make the best impression, but after a while accepted his efforts. In the end, he showed an effort to make the best of himself which made her cheeks flush with pride and love. There was not a single smidge of doubt in her mind that her parents would reject him, yet still, she found it admirable that he still tried his best. Any other wolf would've come in the same clothes they wear on the daily and called it a day, but her Legosi tried his best.
She watched him brush down his shirt and subconsciously did the same on herself, her hand wiping down her shirt. Meanwhile, her ear flicked as she heard a male voice in the house.
"Daddy!" Juno excitedly jumped through the left doorway towards the kitchen, quickly enough the exciting laughter of her father reached Legosi still standing in the doorway.
"Juno! My little girl's back home."
Legosi on the other hand listened to the faint music of oldies playing in the background while observing the layout of the bottom floor. To his left, there was a large doorway into a cozy living room, a bunch of couches, and a comfortable-looking maroon armchair surrounding a coffee table in front of a television set.
in the other corner of the living room past the hardwood floor decked out with rugs was a small fireplace which sat clean and empty. In the winter months, this room specifically would be the most toasty warm than all the others.
To his left was the doorway that Juno had just jumped through, revealing a well-decorated dining room, the low-to-the-floor table being surrounded by cushions to sit on. The room itself was decorated by little green and yellow colored things everywhere, obviously referencing the month of summer.
And straight ahead was a long hallway with numerous doors on the left side until towards the other side of the house it opened up to another area, a glass door to the back garden being completely opposite to the front door.
"Legosi, come here." Juno's voice suddenly alerted the wolf to her request and Legosi in blind canine loyalty followed the sound of her voice. He went through the dining room to a door on the right side of the room, leading him into the kitchen.
Juno's Mother was steadily handling a pot full of delicious-smelling stew while Juno talked to her father, turning to look at Legosi her father's blue eyes following.
Like Juno's mother, the old wolf looked to be in his mid-forties. Yet his fur pattern was a mat grey closer to Legosi's pelt.
"Now this is the young fellow dating my daughter." He placed his hands on his hips, sizing the wolf up.
"My My Celena, you weren't lying when you said he's a tall fellow." Legosi had managed to be taller than all of Juno's family members, even easily topping Juno's father.
"I told you that your daughter has good tastes in men." Juno's mother replied standing at the cooktop tending to the meal of the night. Juno's cheeks became peachy red.
"Mom!" She let loose a whine of embarrassment, as her mother only snickered.
"I am only being honest dear, you know that."
Legosi experienced the little family gripe and couldn't hold back a smile. He had never once had a chance to experience family like this.
"Well then come here and give your father-in-law a hug." The old wolf approached him and Legosi once again had to be pulled down to level in order to properly hug her family.
"There you go." Said her father after a short hug between the two, then slapping him on the shoulder.
"Wasn't so bad was it." He walked back to the place where he originally stood, now turned away from Juno towards the cupboards and supply closets. He rummaged a bit before grabbing glasses and spoons.
"Do you need help?" Juno asked, her father turning around to hand her the utensils and a few glasses. He waved Legosi over.
"Come on now, you know how to set a table don't you?"
"Y-Yes, sir!" Legosi walked forward, caught off guard by the sudden pace here. When he lived at home most of the time he and Gosha both made their meals completely separately and alone. The old wolf grabbed a few plates and bowls, handing a few Legosi as he shook his head.
"My name is Ryohei, the use of sir died out with my children turning sixteen and older." The old wolf replied, a kind and knowing look in his eye.
"Don't fret young man, you don't need to impress us… If our Juno says you're a good fellow then you are a good fellow." Legosi was once again surprised at how much he was right and wrong about what her parents would be like.
The doorbell rang, Celena turning towards the hallway to the door, being stopped by Ryohei placing his hands on her hips and leading her back to the cooking top.
"Don't worry sweetheart, I'll go get the door." He kissed her on the cheek, the wolfess's tail wagging in response. The old wolf casually walked through the doorway, finally, Legosi also entered the dining room in order to place the utensil on the table.
A few moments later he heard an excited voice at the door almost shouting with glee, as her father was equally excited to meet them. Juno once again recognized the voices and walked towards the door, the shouting continuing.
"JUNE! I missed you so much, you little munchkin." the voice replied. Legosi himself simply smiled as he made his way back to the kitchen to gather more utensils for the dinner table.
When he re-emerged from the kitchen, Ryohei following behind him, he caught sight of two more wolves in accompaniment of Juno.
The first one was an equally matte grey wolf as Ryohei, striking blue eyes looking out at the world. She wore simple jeans and a button-down, looking most like an intern at a banking firm. Legosi immediately just by first impression alone knew that she was the oldest, having a look of utter maturity and an outward appearance of complete order and control.
The second wolf was taller than both the oldest and Juno, having an even darker reddish-brown fur color than her younger sister, the dark and rich color being just shy of becoming a maroon tone. She smiled sheepishly and yet seemed less confident than her older sister. The fur on her head was grown out and longer than over most of her body, the few lines of fur laying over her left eye.
Her right eye peeked at the Legosi and quickly looked away as they made eye contact, the anxieties of the she-wolf apparent. Legosi looked away from the dark red wolf to see that the oldest now looked directly at him, unwavering when they made eye contact. Legosi looked at Juno standing between them, ready to introduce the two to break the contact. The oldest sister held a complete and iron focus that Legosi was not prepared for.
"Hoshiko, this is my boyfriend Legosi. Legosi, this is my oldest sister Hoshiko." The wolf in question looked Legosi up and down, judging the wolf for what he was worth before even exchanging a single word.
Legosi looked at Juno for a second, seeing her glancing at her sister in annoyance. An idea bloomed in its head and in a stroke of confidence in himself he laid his ears against his head making himself look as meager as he could.
He fell to his knees, the two she-wolves in front of him looking at him in surprise. He extended his arms in a dramatic posture of begging and superiority, figuratively groveling at her feet.
"Oh great Hoshiko, do not pass your judgment on me. For all I am guilty of is loving the young lady Juno. Oh great Hoshiko, please do not judge me for my love." Legosi bowed down, his head dipping to the floor.
The others looked at the dramatic display while Legosi himself felt like he was standing on stage. The stupid little display seemed exquisitely funny to him.
He looked up from his position on the floor to gauge the reactions of her family. He could see in the corner of his eye that Juno was snickering to herself while watching the display. Her sister's hand looked at him and seemed almost mortified by the sudden dramatic act.
At this point Legosi himself began to laugh, getting to his feet again, Hoshiko and Amara still staring at him blankly. He bowed again, this time not sinking to the floor.
"My name is Legosi, I'm happy that I'm allowed to meet you all." Her sisters this time had different reactions.
Amara smiled to herself, her cheeks reddened at the unusualness of the moment while Hoshiko herself began to laugh.
"Well, Juno… you sure know how to pick the best ones out from a crowd. It's nice to meet you, Legosi." The matte grey she-wolf went to hug Legosi who accepted happily.
Once Hoshiko had concluded the hug she walked to sit down at the now decked-out table, Amara stood there sheepishly looking at the room. She moved closer and simply flicked her hand up to wave.
"Hi," came a soft voice from the deep red she-wolf. Legosi simply answered with a small wave back.
"Hey." After very short eye contact did Amara move to the table to sit down. Legosi simply smiled after them, Juno moving to his side.
"You were right, you have a nice family," Legosi whispered to Juno, the she-wolf smiling while glancing over at her wolf.
"Told you so."
"Come on, everyone to the table." Celena walked on with a steaming pot, placing it on the table as the last two wolves scurried to the table.
For dinner was a phenomenal stew of which Legosi ate two portions with ample bread. Legosi enjoyed a glass of homemade iced tea afterward. Perfectly sweetened with a few spoons of honey giving it a nice mellow taste while not overpowering the citrus notes of the lemon tea base blend.
"So what does a wolf like you plan on doing once he gets out of school?" Hoshiko asked from the other side of the table, her empty bowl laying in front of her while her sister sitting beside her still eating her stew. Legosi took a sip from his iced tea and then placed the glass on the table.
"With a Beastars title university seems like the next big step. Not sure what courses I'll take, but before the end of the year I should have enough time to think about it."
"Perhaps go into politics, a wolf Beastars sounds like a great thing for a change," Ryohei commented on the conversation while still eating his stew.
"Louis is going into politics, I trust him to do the right thing." This time Hoshiko looked at the wolf.
"A pretty special deer to be friends with wolves and a tiger. I always thought he seemed overly pretentious." Legosi thought back to the first moments of ever meeting Louis.
"He used to be…" Hoshiko's attention was now fully affixed on the wolf.
"When he learned that wolves could be more than arrogant carnivores that revealed themselves as being stronger than others… who am I kidding, meeting someone like me was what changed his opinion."
"And how are you different?" Hoshiko asked, probably more so out of curiosity than trying to be defensive yet still, Legosi found her wording to be accusing him of thinking himself to be something special.
Legosi looked to his left to see Juno get ready to defend him, yet his hand grabbed hers and slightly squeezed it, bringing her eyes to his. and with a single look, Juno began to realize what he was planning to do.
Legosi turned back to Hoshiko, to see definite anger as the skin at her muzzle contracted upwards, teasing at the row of sharp canines. Juno now grabbed his hand, more so her being afraid for him than he himself being afraid. And yet without another moment of delay, he continued.
"Probably because I am no pureblood wolf at all." The table fell silent, Ryohei and Celena looking up from their bowls, Hoshiko looking at Legosi still with the slight contempt that Legosi had accidentally caused. But even Amara shot short glances of curiosity at the wolf.
"So you're a wolf-dog? What does that change for my original question." Hoshiko continued.
"I'm not a wolf-dog." Legosi continued, stopping Hoshiko's argument in her tracks.
"My Grandfather is a Komodo Dragon, I'm one-fourth reptile," Legosi said without any shred of self-doubt. The table fell dreadfully silent yet Legosi found he didn't care about them taking the information well or not, what he cared about was correcting the statement he had wrongly made.
"But to answer your question, even though I am a hybrid doesn't make me any different from anybody else. I have friends, hobbies, ideas, and aspirations, I feel love-" He squeezed her hand a bit, making her cheeks turn a bit red. "-and I do enjoy meat every now and then."
The table remained silent, her family hanging off of every word the wolf was saying. Legosi found that saying things others were completely in awe of made him feel powerful, something that he had never expected of himself a mere year prior. All the while Juno silently swooned for her mate to herself, outside of Legosi's notice.
"But I make a conscious choice every day to not see others as weaker than me just because they might physically be. How fair is it if someone were to call you weak because you cannot lift nearly as much weight as them? If that was how things were then the apex predator would probably be Bulls working in construction yards… I don't want to be arrogant just because of what species I am. I am what makes me me, not my fur, muzzle, or reptilian eyes." Hoshiko continued to listen, her face slowly easing up to understand exactly what Legosi was trying to say. At least Legosi was hoping so.
"I'm no different from you or anyone else. I don't think I'm better than you because I am a male and therefore physically stronger. I think I don't know you enough to really have a perspective regarding that. But I know that you are focusing on your career trying to support your family, and that is impressive."
Legosi concluded his sharing of thoughts and leaned back in his chair, taking another sip of his iced tea. The tension in the room was something that Legosi noticed but not really cared about. He had made his statements and that was all.
"You're a Hybrid? That's pretty cool." Amara quietly remarked, one eye peeking past the fur swept over her eyes.
"Like a manga hero." The excitement broke through that statement as the dark reddish-brown wolf's eyes sparkled with childlike admiration.
"It was Juno who made me accept who I was because she was one of the first to not really push me away. Seems like most people don't want to be friends with a meek wolf. Either he's a monster in hiding or to your fellow wolves it's just a weakling herbivore idolizing sucker…" These words stung a bit more to hear but of course, no one could in their right mind debate the validity of the words, the way society handled even the aspect of inter-special relationships was absolutely terrible.
"I'm sorry for sounding pretentious… I didn't mean to in the first place… but I think we need to stop always sticking just to our own kind. We need to be friends with anyone and everyone, as long as they are open-hearted. No single herbivore deserves to live in fear just because they are a herbivore. And terrible characters are not unanimously carnivorous. We need to stop assigning every species their roles… Life doesn't work like that."
"No, I understand. Sorry for lashing out." Hoshiko apologized.
"It wasn't your fault, I picked the wrong words," Legosi explained himself and the table fell silent again. The next time he looked over to the side he noticed that her parent's demeanor of accepting him fully into their family had changed. It seemed that the paramount amount of trust in their daughter was such an instinctual thing that they hadn't even begun to think how they themselves would like Legosi. Only Juno's opinion mattered in who her mate was.
But now that they had seen glimpses of the wolf's character… they decided that their daughter had made the best choice she could've ever made. Their warmth reached deeper now, at least from what Legosi could tell by catching their eyes looking oh so warmly at him.
So that's what having parents feels like…
For the first time in his life when thinking about parents, he felt no guilt. He felt like all choices he made in life were in some ways right. Even the regrets of lacking self-acceptance changed nothing from the fact that the person he was right now was a great one… one that he was proud of.
Afterward, the newfound family together cleared the table, placing most things into the dish rack, with Legosi voluntarily choosing to do the dishes. And so it came that Amara and Hoshiko went into the back of the house in the much larger living room while he remained in the kitchen cleaning bowls and other utensils.
Juno excused herself to use the bathroom, leaving Legosi and Ryohei alone in the room whilst the young wolf's hands were submerged in warm soapy water. Ryohei walked up to the kitchen counter and patted Legosi on the back.
"Now what does a wolf like you want with my daughter?" A slapping could be heard from behind Legosi's field of vision, Ryohei grunting.
"What do you think you're doing, don't scare the boy," Celena shouted with frustration at her husband who in question just chuckled.
"Sorry Legosi, I couldn't help it. I always wanted to say that." Ryohei patted his shoulder again, while Legosi had an answer to his half-joking question.
"I want to marry her. Part of the reason I was so excited to come here was that I wanted to ask for your permission to do so." Legosi answered, without any laughing or other antics. He spoke the truth out from his heart. Ryohei and Celena both simply were astounded.
"Who are you Knight in shining armor coming to ask for my daughter's hand… who are you and where did you come from?" Ryohei asked in awe at the existence of a wolf-like Legosi.
Legosi looked over at his soon-to-be parents-in-law, seeing both Ryohei and Celena observing the wolf in complete awe of who their daughter had fallen in love with. He smiled.
"I'm just a wolf that loves your daughter, nothing more and nothing less."
After the kitchen work was finished and Juno's parents gave their warm appraisals with Ryohei stating his permission to upkeep the old yet somehow yet still alluring tradition the family sat together in the large living room in the back of the house. Playing games, watching television, and talking.
He learned of Hoshiko's escapades into business school, and her dreams of going into the field of logistics and bookkeeping while Amara helped out in a comic store while studying for an arts degree, planning on drawing comic books one day.
He learned of Celena's love of plants and her upkeep of the gardens while her Husband Ryohei worked his days as a carpenter, being something of an all-around handyman, with his workshop in the basement.
And after all was said and done the family all went upstairs to their separate rooms. Legosi and Juno both went into her room after having brushed their teeth.
"And?" Juno asked.
"And what?" Legosi answered in light-hearted confusion while watching his girlfriend take off her shirt to then rummage through her closet to find a pair of PJs.
"How do you like them?" She grabbed a pair she liked, her tail wagging behind her, while Legosi smiled to himself.
"They're your parents, of course, I like them. They're just as lovely people as I expected them to be." he watched his girlfriend, now in her full dark red PJs, looking at him with love as her cheeks turned a similar dark red color.
She very quietly squealed as she fell onto the floor mats, hugging Legosi and kissing his face over and over again.
"I love you," Juno whispered, sort of in a love drunken state. Legosi enveloped her, the wolfess suddenly sitting on the wolf's lap.
"I love you!" he put emphasis on you, kissing her on the lips a moment later. It was one of those times in life where all sorrow was so far away that in the moment you forgot that suffering even existed. It was a good night.
On the other side of town, through the small passageways between the districts, there hushed a dark figure that was hard to place in the animal kingdom. Its face would make you clue into it being an opossum yet its nose was darker and flatter, and its fur was a gray marbling that looked more like a raccoon. Her clothing was a mix of grays and blacks, being as hard to see in the night light as possible.
Under its right arm the hybrid held a ledger with hastily thrown together documents that had been grabbed in a hurry. She knew she wasn't supposed to have these, and she looked over her shoulder frantically every few meters she walked, terrified of the idea of being followed.
She hopped over a gate, landing in the yard of the large circular-shaped apartment building block. As she quietly hushed over the dark yard the light of one of the doors went bright, the small omnivore nearly jumped out of its skin and dashed behind a few large species bikes leaning against the wall, and made herself as small as possible.
The door swung open, a giggling hyena walked out of the building holding a bag of trash. the butt of a cigarette was in his mouth as he moved to the trash canister, a small plume of smoke rising to the sky. Once the bag had sunken into the trash can the hyena turned around, oblivious to the small shadow under the bikes, moving back to the door.
It took the cigarette and pushed into the ashtray standing on the window sill of the stairwell and closed the door behind him, the light soon turning off a few seconds later.
The hybrid crawled out of her hiding place and continued her journey, slipping through the unlocked door into the stairwell past the stairs through the other side out towards her destination. In front of her was a little basketball court, the chainlink fence becoming a cage not too long ago, making it impossible for kids to throw their balls over it. To her left was an elevated patch of thick bushes, a small stone walkway leading through it.
She made her way through the greenery to finally be where she wanted to be. After looking over her shoulder one last time she approached the large stone wall that signaled the start of the black market.
She walked around the wall for another minute until she reached the metal door. She knocked twice against it, and the door's low metal shutter opened.
"Hello Claire, what's it today?" The fox greeted her.
"I got what Melon asked for." The other side of the door fell silent, the shutter closing after a few seconds and the door unlocking, opening for her.
She slipped through into the small security office, the lamp on the desk being the only light source.
"You know the drill Claire." The security guard muttered.
She silently put her hoodie to the side, placing the ledger there and emptying the contents of her pockets. Kyle wrote down her belongings and then moved closer to her, while she spread her arms and legs for the pat-down.
After Kyle had declared her safe, he let her pass with her belongings and the ledger into the abandoned section of the black market. The abandoned stores in the ruined mile, as the black market dwellers called it, were a make-shift home to those who had nowhere else to go.
The homeless, the outcasts, and lastly… Omnivora. A dilapidated two-story supermarket had become the headquarters for the hybrid organization.
She entered through the boarded-up glass front of the store, entering the makeshift armory. Many figures sat around tables polishing weaponry or filling up magazines. It looked like a salvation army that gave out free guns instead of food. Hunting grounds went through Claire's mind as she walked through the former employee's only area to the second floor.
What had once been the owner's apartment had become the headquarters of the leading members of Omnivora. She opened the door, seeing a dark blueish grey deer stand by the window, sharp antlers upon his head, looking outside in sadness.
Claire didn't pay him any mind and moved on through the kitchenette past the living room and large bathroom through the living room until she stood at the door of the storage room. The way the second floor was built was that the first part was the apartment of the previous owner, an overzealous money-grubbing hybrid hater that went bankrupt shortly after building the market. The meager store never could pay for the luxurious apartment he built on top.
He was found dead a week or two later, possibly due to a hate crime. The banks didn't want the property in their company registry so through a weird turn of events cut their losses and erased files of the plot, pretending like it didn't exist.
The back half of the second floor was ample storage space linked to the store through a service elevator, giving two points of entry for the second floor. Claire knocked against the door, Danuja the leopard Doberman hybrid opened the door.
He looked gruffly at the small hybrid omnivore and moved out of the way, his cat-like ears moving around in circles while his tail tried to punch around and curl like a normal cat would whilst the dog-like tail muscle simply punched to the left and the right in a slight delay.
Claire approached the middle of the large storage space, three animals sitting at the table.
To the left sat Nox, the grey labrador retriever was the right-hand man to the whole operation whilst to the right sat Zass, a dark figure whose animal features were so wild and different that it was almost indecipherable what his parents were. He was perhaps the only hybrid born by hybrids in the entire city. His facial shape seemed to be most like a goat yet his eyes and ears were obviously cat-like. His body was covered in darker feathers, with leopard-like patterns on fur patches spaced out on his body.
And at the head sat the largest of them all, the weirdly curved horns reaching into the air while his eyes and teeth peeked out from his herbivore face.
"Have you got it?" Melon asked, his gruff voice once again betraying his Herbivore exterior.
Claire placed the ledger on the table, the three figures looking down at the federal ruling document
"Photocopied with the original document remaining in government hands as you ordered. They have no reason to believe that anyone else has had access to the document." Nox and Zass looked down at the document whilst Melon looked up at the young medium-sized hybrid woman.
"Your talents are very important to our cause. Are you willing to join the likes of Omnivora for the safety of our kind?" Claire remained stoic yet inside felt excitement being offered just what she needed. Safety in numbers
"Of course Sir." Melon charmingly smiled.
"Go downstairs and ask for a room, we have more than enough room. Tomorrow you shall receive your tattoo and become an official member of Omnivora. We are honored to have a fellow of kin in our ranks." Melon explained while remaining in his seat.
"Thank you, sir." Claire thanked them for giving her audience, turned around, and walked out of the room.
"Now Melon… what does this mean." Nox pointed at the document, a new government ruling that had grotesque ramifications for the hybrid kind.
"This here is a declaration of war." Zass's voice was a rumble of sounds, bird-like trilling coming through his mouth.
"There you are right, Zass. They declared war on our kind."
"You mean going to war with Yahya?" Nox interjected to Melon agreeing with Zass.
"We have children and weak outcasts out there. We can't find the Beastar without an army." Nox shared his worries and his leader merely looked at him with eyes of deadly focus.
"We have broken into his tower for this document to be prepared when it happens. We always knew he hated hybrid kind and this here is the warning we need in order to be prepared for what he plans. He wants to make us less than animals so we show him what beasts we can be…
If the masses hate us, then we shall show them what we are capable of." Melon looked at the table again, the document stoking the rage bubbling beneath the surface. The life of being one of the invalids.
"Get as many guns as you can get, prepare the hideouts. I want eyes everywhere at any time. We were born here… and if he forces us too, we will die here… but not without him choking on his last laugh."
Author's Addendum: Hello Lads and Ladies.
We have reached the conclusion of the second season of my three-season rewrite of the entire Beastars manga/anime. It was a wild ride on which I made many friends, found out a lot about myself, and explored a lot more of this beautiful world that Paru created yet never fully finished as these characters and this premise deserved.
I want to thank all of you who read my story for being part of this wonderful journey that has taken more than one and a half years of continuous writing with some pauses due to mental health, laziness, and overall rest. I loved every second of it and I loved and cherished every sentence you guys wrote in the messages under the fics. I am oh so happy that my story has brought on such a following. Thank all of you.
But now I have another journey on the horizon with season three and an original work of mine. And I am afraid that I won't be able to go at it alone.
For all those following the author's notes throughout the entire story, you may know that I have a pretty crippling fear of social situations. So severe that I have trouble leaving the house alone which I do very very rarely. Due to that, I haven't been able to go to college as I planned, and University is, unfortunately, gonna have to wait until my fears are dealt with.
As long as I can't leave the house, neither can I accept any job that would make it easier for me to live at home with just a bit of extra money at my disposal. So I am here to make you guys an offer in case any of you would want to support me.
I have been working on my original story "Kronos - The Jewel of creation" for a long long time, ever since I was ten years old the idea of those characters came into my head, and Foxy and Clone were so kind to offer up their editorial work for my original fiction. But until I finish it it's gonna be a long road, and I won't be able to publish until I finish it.
So essentially… I have dedicated a non descript website starting with a P to my story Kronos, my first fully original writing project which had been in the works for a long long time (never written but a lot of planning and thinking about it.) If you enjoyed my stories and want to give me a bit of extra support (including getting access to my own original story) Then check out said non descript website starting with a P /DoctorPortal455
I will still write Season 3 and publish it for free on all Fanfiction websites but my original work will be published on . The prologue as well as Chapter one I will post publicly on the non descript website starting with a P for you to check out and get a feel for the story if it is something you would be interested in. Something that you want to read and want to support. I need to support my family and it would be warmly appreciated.
Either way, this was an amazing journey, I hope you're excited for Beastars Rewritten Season 3. I will probably take just the shortest break to gather myself and then go full swing into writing the first chapter. Paula's cover for season 3 is done already, so you can see more lovely art from her. It'll get pretty intense from here on out. See you in Season 3!
Foxy's Note: Another story done and another of what feels like a small chapter of my life closed. This has been an absolutely wonderful journey to be a part of since we started rewriting season 1 and I've truly enjoyed every second of it. I definitely took more of a backseat role in this installment and I'm honestly glad I did because life just seems to get busier and busier, but most importantly of all, I got to see just how darn awesome Portal has become as a writer since we first met. So bravo to that.
Clones Note: "Hello there"
I'm just casually existing and helping along enjoying my time with this series. Surprisingly I never expected to get myself involved in editing within this series ever since I first started reading it when it first came out. I do have some regrets when it does come to this story as I reread, I can see areas that can use Anyways season 3 is going to be a blast and something to look out forward too. until next time…maybe…who knows さいよなら