Chapter 16: Do You Have No Shame? A New Relationship Blossoms!


Alex headed back to the carnivore dorm 701. Hopefully no one had noticed his disappearance, or thought much of it. He'd need a cover story in case they did ask about it, though. He went over possible answers, settling on "I was hanging out with this nice girl". The wolf opened the door to the building and saw an utterly appalling sight.

Alex saw Legosi, Durham, Miguno, Collot, Jack, and the other carnivores sitting on a stack of newspapers, scissors in their paws and naked except for their underwear. What was even more shocking was the fact that they were cutting their fur off! The only time that Alex had seen such a sight was on the streets, when people who had nothing left would shave their fur off and sell it to whoever they could for quick money to buy more alcohol. "What the hell are you doing?!" Alex yelled.

"Cutting off our fur for the changing seasons, of course!" Jack cheerfully replied, oblivious to Alex's anger and shock.

"But the body naturally sheds fur! The fur doesn't need to be cut unless you're going for a makeover!" Alex countered.

"Actually, we're cutting our fur off so we can sell it!" Collot told Alex. This set off an explosive reaction from Alex.

"You're SELLING YOUR FUR?!" Alex screeched.

Miguno gulped. The spotted hyena looked at Collot nervously. "What have you done?!" Miguno whispered worriedly.

"You've unleashed a monster!" Durham the coyote added. Miguno hugged Durham tightly, and Durham embraced the spotted hyena lovingly and protectively, as if they were going to protect each other from Alex's oncoming verbal onslaught.

"You can't sell your fur! It's wrong!" Alex exclaimed.

"Wrong… how?" Legosi warily asked. Alex thought about it for a second, and then sighed.

"God, I'm sorry guys. I overreacted. But you gotta understand. The last time I saw someone selling their fur, it was when I was living on the streets. Everyone was doing it to get money for drugs or alcohol or sex," Alex explained.

"Oh my gosh, that's horrible!" Jack exclaimed.

"I know! And what's worse, you didn't know what they were going to do with your fur. It could end up in a coat, a rug, or some sex toy," Alex told them. The white wolf shuddered in disgust.

"Well, thankfully, we know where our fur's going. We're selling it to this rug shop," Collot replied.

"Just for a quick buck? On the streets, my fur was sometimes the only thing that I had left. I sometimes didn't have clothes, or food, or water. Many homeless turned to selling their fur as the only way to make money. But on the streets, selling your fur is like selling your soul and dignity. So I ask you: Do you have no shame?" Alex asked.

"Well, things are different here, Alex. Our living situation is better than yours was at that point in your childhood, and it can't really compare to yours," Jack answered.

Alex thought about that for a moment and sighed again. "You have a point. I shouldn't have overreacted. Do whatever you want with your fur," Alex conceded. The wolf walked off, deciding to take a nap.

"Should we talk to him?" Jack asked. Legosi put a paw on Jack's shoulder.

"I think we should leave Alex alone for now," Legosi told Jack. The gray wolf then walked off, deciding to roam the school grounds. Then he caught wind of a familiar scent. It was… her . He started following his nose, allowing some of his instincts to guide him to that white dwarf rabbit.

He followed the bunny's scent trail to one of the school hallways, and saw her arguing with Mizuchi. The bunny was soaking wet. The wolf approached her, pulling a handkerchief out of his shirt pocket. Apparently, Mizuchi and her minions were terrified of Legosi, running in fear from him as he got closer and closer to the white dwarf rabbit. "Go get eaten by yourself!" Mizuchi shrieked in terror.

Haru turned around, wondering what exactly the harlequin rabbit meant. She was a little surprised to see Legosi behind her. "Do you… need this?" Legosi asked, handing her the handkerchief. Haru recognized Legosi as the animal who had been afflicted by the Night Howler, and had "imprinted" on her, as well as another one of her affairs.

"Oh… it's you," Haru said. She took the handkerchief and started wiping the water off of her ears. "It's been a while! Sorry you had to see that," Haru then continued. Legosi's mind was racing at a thousand miles an hour, thoughts darting through his head. The wolf was overwhelmed, and didn't know what to say. Was Haru okay? Were those girls bullying her?

As Haru bent over and examined the flower that was in the pot Mizuchi had broken, Legosi was reminded of how small Haru truly was. "Are you okay?" Legosi questioned, his tone worried.

"While that's really sweet of you… move. I don't receive pity from a male that I've slept with," Haru replied. Legosi was taken aback by Haru's response.

"Uh, no… we didn't do anything," Legosi reminded Haru. The white dwarf rabbit pondered that for a minute, before realizing that Legosi was right. All Legosi did was run from the room while Haru was stripping her clothes off. Her stomach growled.

"All that yelling at Mizuchi has got me hungry," Haru said. Then she had an idea. "Hey, did you already eat dinner, Legosi?" Haru asked. Legosi shook his head no in response. "Great! How about we eat together?" Haru suggested. Legosi nodded yes shyly.

The two went to the lunchroom, where they were stared at by many of the students. Alex was already sitting at one of the tables in the cafeteria, and when he saw Legosi and Haru, he waved at them and motioned for the two to come sit with him. As Haru and Legosi walked through the lunchroom, they heard several animals making fun of them. "Did he confuse her for food and bring her here?" a crocodile chuckled.

Legosi and Haru sat down, and Alex got up. "You two continue this without me. I'm going to go give that croc a piece of my mind," Alex growled menacingly, standing up and marching over to the table that the Siamese crocodile was sitting at.

The albino wolf slammed his fist down on the table that croc was sitting at. "Hey cock-o-dile. What do you think is wrong with predators and prey being friends?" Alex roared.

"U-uh… they're too different? And predators are superio-" The crocodile started saying. When he started to utter the word "superior" Alex lunged at the crocodile, grabbing him by the throat and holding a claw to his jugular.

"I am so SICK of this stupid predator superiority complex. Who the hell started that idea anyways?" Alex hissed, eyes blazing with anger. Every day growing up, he had seen prey animals taken advantage of by predators. It was the whole reason that the night howler incident had occurred- Dawn Bellwether, the mastermind behind the savage animals, had been physically and mentally abused by predators throughout her whole life.

"The ancient predators did," one volunteered.

"It was a rhetorical question, you moron!" Alex snarled at the Canada lynx that had spoken up. He whipped his head back around to focus on the crocodile, pressing the claw into his scales. "If that's your outlook on the world, it is severely flawed. Did you know that prey animals outnumber predators ten to one?" Alex yelled.

The crocodile shook his head fearfully. "Without prey animals, the world around us would die. So many prey animals have suffered because of stupid asshole predators who believe that prey are inferior to them," Alex began. He took his claw away from the crocodile's neck. "The predators realized that without prey their world was incomplete, and they began to make peace with them five hundred years ago. You should have learned about the great Predator/Prey war in history class," Alex continued.

"Actually, it's the herbivore/carnivore war!" another one of the animals sitting at the table corrected.

Alex glared at the speaker, before realizing that some mannerisms and phrases were different in Zootopia compared to Cherryton. "I'm from Zootopia. They call it the predator and prey war there," Alex informed the animal that spoke up.

"Anyways, the only way that things can improve is if predators and prey work together to make the world a better place," Alex finished his speech, and then left to go back to Haru and Legosi.

Legosi was struggling with talking to the white dwarf rabbit. He was praying to God, asking him for forgiveness and to help him remember this bunny's name. "Hey Legosi! Hey Haru!" Alex greeted them as he returned to the table.

Legosi's ear perked up. Haru ! That was her name! He listened to Haru talk about her classes. "I'm struggling with mid-term history," Haru told them.

"Maybe I could help you study for it!" Legosi offered, eager for more opportunities to spend time with this female.

"Well, that's very sweet of you, Legosi!" Haru complemented as she resumed eating. Legosi was entranced by the rabbit chowing down on her food, unconsciously beginning to imitate the bunny's mouth movements. Alex chuckled as he saw Legosi mimic Haru, but didn't say a word as to not interrupt the two of them.

Haru noticed how Legosi was mirroring her mouth movements, and smiled. "You're kinky, you know? You shouldn't be so captivated by a girl trying to eat her food," The white bunny teased.

Legosi's eyes widened as he realized he had unconsciously been copying Haru's mouth movements. "G-gah! I'm sorry…" Legosi apologized.

"HARU!" Alex scolded.

"Just kidding! I've been meaning to thank you for what you did back then, and now we have a chance to talk," Haru giggled.

"Thank me for what?" Legosi wondered, unsure of what Haru was thanking him for.

"You know… back then, I was fully prepared to sleep with you, even though you're a wolf. But you covered me in a blanket and left," Haru began. Legosi blushed, and motioned for her to continue.

"I think you saved me by doing that… you were being realistic," Haru continued. She then thanked Legosi for spending time with her and started to head back to her dorm.

"I'll walk you back!" Legosi suggested. The gray wolf went with her to the dorm, and the two smiled at each other, enjoying their company. Haru bent down to buckle her undone shoelace, and Legosi bent down to help her. After he fixed it, her eyes locked with Legosi's, and Legosi was entranced by how brown and black Haru's eyes were.

In that instant that he stared into Haru's eyes, Legosi knew that he was the one who needed to step up in the relationship. He would do whatever it took to make Haru smile like that more often, even if it meant getting his tail dirty.

That night, Alex sat in his bed staring at the ceiling, with his carrot pen recorder. "Audio log, day ten. Today, I saw Legosi interact with Haru properly for the first time. No night howlers, no horniness driving Haru to sleep with that gray wolf… I believe that what I witnessed was the start of a beautiful relationship, one that will blossom into a beacon of hope for the future. End audio log," Alex spoke.


Alex encounters Juno, the love stricken female whose heart has been unknowingly stolen by Legosi. Making a bet to her, Alex goes off to search for the gray wolf boy, but he finds out that Legosi is heading to the dangerous parts of Cherryton! The wolf races to get to Legosi and stop him before the situation escalates. What will happen?

Find out next time on BEASTARS: The Divergent Variable! Chapter 17: Cherryton's Corruption! The Terror Of The Black Market!