Chapter 36: Tem's Warning! Legosi In Mortal Peril!
Four weeks later, on a Friday afternoon, Alex and Legosi were sitting around inside the drama club. Not much progress had been made on the investigation. Well, not entirely. Bill had managed to back up Aoba's alibi about where he was on the night that Tem was killed.
Alex hadn't really suspected Aoba as the killer anyways; the pelvis and other bone fragments that had been found clogging up the bathroom the day after the murder suggested that a piece of Tem's crotch had been bitten off, with bite marks. Beaks could not give bite marks.
Alex was jolted out of his thoughts by the sound of Legosi muttering the word "meat". Every single carnivore in the room turned their head to look at Legosi. "What did you just say?!" Bill asked. Legosi's eyes narrowed as he locked eyes with the carnivores around him.
"You know, I often think about the fact that Tem's dead. And I know for a fact he talked with some of the carnivores in this club," Legosi remarked.
Alex's eyes widened. What the hell was Legosi doing?! "The hell is wrong with you, Legosi?!" Alex gasped. He tried to send the wolf a silent message, that this wasn't the time or place to do this.
"YOU GO BRING THAT UP AND NOW YOU'RE SUSPECTING THAT ONE OF US DID IT?!" Bill snarled. Legosi was uneasy, he didn't expect to get this strong of a reaction from the others. The situation was quickly defused by Pina, who came into the dressing room and riled everyone up with his asshole attitude. Alex really disliked animals like Pina. They were the ones who would be the most likely to get killed over something stupid they said.
The speech that Pina made as he was officially inducted as a member into the drama club didn't help the carnivores either. In fact, it only seemed to agitate them even further. The carnivores quickly assembled on the roof of the drama club building and vented their aggression and anger towards the dickheaded Dall sheep.
After Bill was done screaming his frustrations out at the night sky, he turned and looked at Legosi curiously. "Why are you here at this carnivore gathering, anyways, Legosi? You never attend these anyways," Bill asked. Alex was a normal attendee of these meetings, though he found them rather boring. These meetings were usually about boring school stuff and crushes. Yet he couldn't help but feel a vibe in the air that was similar to the black market.
Alex couldn't help but groan as Legosi proceeded to make a fool of himself by trying to read some of the shit from one of Gouhin's books. After Bill and the others asked Legosi if he had really fucked Haru and Legosi told them no, Alex heard the wolf sneeze and sniffle, and realized that Legosi had a cold.
Alex pulled Legosi aside and dragged him through the gardens of the school. The gray wolf was planning on meeting up with Haru after the meeting. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, LEGOSI!?" Alex growled. His tone was cold as ice, and his eyes were blazing with anger.
"U-uh, what did I do?!" Legosi wondered. He had no idea what had pissed Alex off.
"You ask all of these discrete questions, in front of the whole fucking drama club, and you expect to get away scot free? If you were an actual cop your cover would have been fucking blown and you could have been killed. The murderer might try to come after you now!" Alex explained. Legosi gulped. He hadn't thought of the risk he might be placing himself in. The gray wolf had been so focused on trying to make progress in the investigation that he hadn't thought things through completely.
"And you decide to ask all of these questions when YOU HAVE A FUCKING COLD! This is literally the perfect opportunity to get yourself killed! How will you be able to sense the killer coming after you if your nose is stuffed up with mucus!" Alex scolded.
He shoved Legosi, before whirling around and beginning to storm off. "Try something that stupid again and I WILL punch your lights out," Alex threatened Legosi before he started heading back to room 701.
When Alex got to the canine dorms, he flopped into bed and fell fast asleep rather quickly. Getting angry at Legosi had taken a lot out of him. He managed to get a couple of hours of sleep.
While Alex was asleep, Legosi was in trouble. On his way back to the dorm, he had been ambushed by a large predator who he assumed was the killer. Now his attacker was dragging him across the courtyard. With a jolt, Legosi realized that this animal had deliberately planned this attack, as his cold would prevent him from being able to properly identify the killer.
Legosi howled in pain as the killer slammed his head into the wall. He felt his blood trickling down his face. Legosi was hurt pretty badly. In that instant Legosi knew what he had to do. He feigned being unconscious so that the killer would lean in close to him. When he felt the warm breath of his subduer, he struck. The wolf's head whipped forward, and he locked mouths with the killer. Using his tongue, Legosi was able to get a taste of his enemy's saliva.
The killer was shocked and disgusted. How DARE Legosi kiss him like that?! He hadn't had a kiss on the mouth since the night Tem died. The sensation of his lips being embraced was something that he had only shared with Tem. He had been in love with the alpaca. And they had consummated their relationship when Tem had let the killer eat him alive.
The killer decided to give Legosi the beatdown of a lifetime. He pummeled the wolf's chest and stomach, driving his large fists into them. He grinned triumphantly as he heard the sound of bones cracking. When he was satisfied with the amount of suffering he had inflicted upon the unfortunate, nosy gray wolf, he left the wolf to stew in that puddle of blood.
When the killer left Legosi's range of vision, he reached into his pocket and brought out his phone, dialing Jack's number. The gray wolf began praying for his best friend to pick up. He definitely wasn't going to be able to move on his own anytime soon, and he could feel his strength fading away. It was quickly becoming a struggle for Legosi to even stay conscious.
Alex woke up as he saw a bright light in his room. He narrowed his eyes as he realized it couldn't be coming from the sun. The light was much too blue to be sunlight, and it was the middle of the night as well. The white wolf gasped as he saw a glowing silhouette standing at his bedside. Snarling, Alex lunged for his bedside drawer, opening it and pulling his cross out before brandishing it at the silhouette, believing it to be a dark entity.
In response, the silhouette's figure seemed to solidify, and it took on the shape of an alpaca. "You don't seem to be a demon… in that case, you must be a spirit. Are you Tem?" Alex mused to himself. "No… time! Legosi… danger!" The spectral alpaca breathed. Alex's eyes widened as he leapt to his feet.
His phone's alarm started to go off. That couldn't be good. The blaring red siren ringtone meant that one of the animals who wore the biometric watches were in critical condition. Alex knew that it had to be coming from Legosi's watch. He turned to the apparition, realizing it must be Tem. The alpaca must have come to him so he would be able to prevent another animal from falling victim to the killer.
"Take me to him!" Alex ordered the spirit. Tem nodded as he flew off, turning into a ball of light that zoomed down the hallways. Alex burst through the doors of the canine dorm and chased after the spirit. He followed Tem's ghost to the courtyard area, where Legosi had gone to meet up with Haru. He saw Jack kneeling and taking off his shirt, and as he got closer, he was horrified at what he saw.
He saw Legosi lying unconscious on the ground, a puddle of blood surrounding the gray wolf's unmoving form. Examining the wolf, he saw that half of Legosi's face was covered in blood, and there were three large gashes on the wolf's back. Listening closely, he could hear that Legosi's breathing was more of a wheeze, meaning that he was having trouble breathing.
"A-Alex! Thank heavens you're here! Legosi called me and he sounded badly hurt, so I got over here as fast as I could. I'm not strong enough to lift him though… I called emergency services, they're on their way here right now," Jack said worriedly. The labrador put his shirt up to Legosi's back, applying pressure to the wolf's slashes.
The wolf pulled out his phone and began to take pictures of Legosi's wounds. The yellow dog was bewildered by Alex's behavior. "Why are you taking pictures of him at a time like this?!" Jack wondered.
"For analysis later," Alex quickly answered. The paramedics arrived on the scene and rushed Legosi to the ambulance.
As they rode in the ambulance to the hospital, Alex began to break down, shedding his cool and composed exterior. The wolf sobbed as the overwhelming guilt wracked his brain and burned him up inside. This was all his fault. If he had stuck with Legosi after the predator meeting when he went to meet Haru, the gray wolf wouldn't have been ambushed.
As Alex wept, Jack put an arm around the cop's shoulder as he cried his heart out. At this point, Jack knew that it was out of their hands to decide if Legosi would make it or not. All they could do was to pray that Legosi would be all right.
Although his vital signs are back to normal and all of his injuries are healed, Legosi still hasn't woken up yet. The doctors are concerned that Legosi will suffer serious brain damage if the wolf doesn't awaken from his comatose state soon. Alex blames himself for the wolf's condition. Legosi's friends gather together in an effort to revive the wolf...! Will they be successful? Find out on the next chapter of BEASTARS: Converging Destinies!
Chapter 37: Legosi's In A Coma! Trying To Wake Him Up!
