AN: Many things have happened with the Beastars fandom recently that I forgot to bring up in the last chapter. Season 2 of the anime started up in Japan, Volume 22 of the manga was released (the last one), and Beast Complex was started up again. Also, this morning, Paru Itagaki tweeted a picture of Louis and Juno. If this suggests something for the next Beast Complex or another future one, then bring it on. However, if that's promotion for the next episode of the anime, that's frankly a bit mean spirited on her part. Considering she decided to have Louis marry Azuki at the end of Beastars for political reasons, it would be a bit pointless and cruel to get anime fans' hopes up (unless the anime decides to diverge from the manga in that regard, which I would love). Anyway, apologies for a good chunk of this chapter being a recap of events from the Beastars story. It felt necessary to have Louis reveal all that to the world and Philip. Story time!
Ch 9: Louis Shocks the World
"I need to go!" Legoshi shouts at Haru.
"It won't work!" the rabbit shouts back. "You already tried that this morning after Louis and Juno were kidnapped! Those hybrids used Scent Mask to cover their tracks! You won't find them!"
"I have to try! I can't just watch our friends get murdered by their own son!"
"I hate this as much as you do! I don't want to lose them either!"
Free and Dope watch this ongoing back and forth fight. They've been wanting to suggest using their divination, but this fight hasn't allowed them to get in one word.
Suddenly, there's a knock on the door.
Free answers and is furious at who is on the other side. "YOU!" He grabs the cheetah-chimpanzee hybrid and shoves him against the wall. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't tear you limb from limb!"
Dope runs over. "Free, let him go!"
Legoshi grabs Free's hands and starts prying them off Casey. "You're choking him!"
Eventually, the hybrid is released and he leans against the wall to get his breath back.
"What are you doing here?" Haru asks the hybrid.
Casey looks around the room. "None of us thought Philip would ever go this far with his revenge. Ben chose to stay behind to stall while Andy and I went for help."
Goshen stands up from the couch. "Where's Andy?"
"Going for the police. Maybe the other lions if he runs into them."
"He probably will," Marie says from the couch. "They are likely tracking Father with the divination right about now."
Legoshi turns to the two lions in the room. "Why didn't you guys bring that up?!"
Dope gives an annoyed glare to the wolf. "We tried."
Free nods. "You and your wife were so into your argument, we couldn't say shit to you."
Haru face palms. "Yeah, this one's definitely on me." She turns to Casey. "You're going to lead them to where Louis and Juno are?"
"Yeah."
"THEN DO THAT!"
"Uh…right." Casey looks over to Legoshi and the two lions. "Follow me!" He runs out the door.
"Wait up!" Legoshi shouts as he follows.
Dope is right behind them. "We're coming, Boss!"
Free groans before chasing after the others. "Damn cheetahs and their speed!"
Haru stands in the doorway as she watches them all leave. "You'd better bring Louis and Juno back alive! DO YOU HEAR ME?!" The rabbit turns back to the couch and smiles. "I'm surprised but also glad you're not going with them, Goshen."
The wolf-rabbit hybrid chuckles. "I know I have a tendency to rush into danger like Dad does." He puts an arm around Marie. "If we do end up losing Louis and Aunt Juno, then we will need to support each other in our grief."
Marie rests her head on Goshen's shoulder. "Thank you."
Haru joins the two on the couch and looks at the laptop's screen.
Meanwhile…
Dolph is keeping his eyes glued to the strands of hair in his hand while walking down the sidewalk.
"This is too slow," Hino says while looking over the other lion's shoulder.
"Got any better ideas?"
Agata holds up his phone, which has Philip's live stream playing. "We have no idea how much longer Juno and the Boss have. They could be dead in seconds."
"That Scent Mask means we can't smell where they are. We can't drive because then we would have to worry about making turns on a dime and speed limits, wasting even more time."
"We know that," says Hino.
"We're just scared and frustrated," says Agata.
"And you think I'm not?!" shouts Dolph. "I'm scared we won't reach them in time! I'm frustrated because this slow as hell method is all we have!"
"No it's not!" shouts a voice up ahead.
The three lions look up to see Andy further down the sidewalk.
Agata pulls out a gun and points it at the alligator-rhino hybrid. "Bastard!"
Andy gets his hands in the air. "I come in peace!"
"Like hell you have!" Hino shouts with a growl.
"Stop it!" Dolph orders the other lions. He steps forward until he's in front of the hybrid. "Why are you here?"
"None of us wants Philip to kill his parents," Andy says with both hands still in the air. "I am heading to the police station while Casey went to get Legoshi. Ben's stalling best he can."
"Duh," Agata says while face palming. "It's so obvious to me now. Why else would that guy bring up those two getting 'last words'?"
"I can tell you where they are."
"Then tell us," says Dolph.
Andy drops his arms and tells the three lions where Philip has Louis and Juno.
Meanwhile…
Louis stares at Philip. "You know, we have something in common."
The deer-wolf hybrid scoffs. "Oh really?"
"Oguma was also unable to produce an heir just like Xander and Delilah."
"You were adopted," Juno says with wide eyes.
"Do you expect me to sympathize with you or something?" asks Philip.
"I didn't come from Child Services or an orphanage," says Louis. "The first few years of my life were spent in the Back Alley Market as livestock."
Silence fills the room at that revelation.
Ben grips the camera a bit tighter. 'Holy shit.'
Juno's tail droops and her ears flatten. "Oh, Louis."
Philip just stares.
Louis looks down at the floor. "Like all the other herbivore kids there, I didn't know how to read or even talk. We all knew one thing. If we were taken out of our cells, it was unlikely we were going back. One day, a red deer stag came there and bought me. Before he took me out of that building though, he decided to test me. He gave me a knife and pushed me from the elevator into a room full of hungry carnivores."
All of the viewers watching and everybody in the room (yes, even Philip) think this was a terrible thing.
"Instead of trying to attack or defend myself, I turned the knife on myself and was on the verge of ending it all. That's when the stag pulled me back into the elevator and took me away to his home. If you haven't guessed, the stag was Oguma." Louis waits for somebody to make any sort of comment. Only getting silence, he continues. "He personally saw to my education so I'd one day be his successor as CEO of Horns Conglomerate." The stag chuckles. "What would he say to me if he saw me now, voted out of the company and jobless?"
"These are you last words?" Philip asks feeling a bit disappointed despite the revelation.
"I'm just getting warmed up. Did you know that Haru had a really active sex life back in Cherryton before Legoshi?"
"Most know about that."
"She and I were friends with benefits."
"Wait. What?! She's an herbivore!"
"This was long before I acknowledged my preference. Haru discovered me one day after I shed my antlers early. She allowed me to hide myself in her cabin until my prosthetics arrived. I was thrown off by how my identity didn't intimidate her in any way and how she didn't require money to keep quiet about my condition. Haru did tell me she thought me hiding was stupid, but let me do it anyway." Louis takes a moment to chuckle at the memory. "Uncomfortable with not giving her something in return and finding her personality charming, I started up the arrangement between us. In time, we grew quite fond of each other. I saw Haru as a close friend I could open up to and have the comfort of discreet sex. She…had wanted a full relationship." Louis frowns. "Since my father had planned out my future to lead Horns Conglomerate and marry Azuki for the sake of expansion, I turned Haru down. It just so happened that was around the time that she and Legoshi were getting to know each other. Wary of his interest in Haru since he was a wolf, I had tried to discourage him and even attempted to steer him towards Juno." He looks back at the she wolf. "I hope you don't judge Haru for our past."
Juno shakes her head. "Do you really think Haru wouldn't have told me about this in the twenty years since you and I broke up?"
"Oh. Right." Louis turns back to Philip. "Now comes one of the things in my past that I am most ashamed of."
"This should be interesting," says the deer-wolf hybrid.
Ben adjusts the camera. 'If Louis's ashamed of this, it must be something bigger than him coming from the Back Alley Market…somehow.'
"Pretty much the whole world knows about how Legoshi saved Haru when she was taken by the Shishigumi. What isn't known is my involvement in the whole thing. It started when the city's mayor at that time told me of Haru's kidnapping. The lion decided to tell me since I was a top candidate for Beastar and that I had to know the reality of the world I lived in. Then, he told me he knew of my origins. His deal was for me to keep quiet or else he'd leak the truth of where I came from to the public."
Tense silence fills the air as the implication sets in.
"You didn't," Juno says feeling disappointed and angry.
As an answer, Louis just stares down at his shoes.
"That's shitty!" shouts Ben.
"It shouldn't be surprising to anyone," Philip says with a smug grin. "It fits so well with everything else we know about him."
Louis looks at Philip. "It didn't stick."
"Huh?"
"Legoshi came to me and told me how he wanted the both of us to head to the Back Alley Market and save Haru. When I told him it was pointless for us to risk our lives and that it was all the natural course, he got so mad that he sent me flying with a punch."
Ben laughs a little.
"Serves you right," Juno says to the stag.
"It did," Louis says in total agreement. "After Legoshi left to save Haru, my guilt started to eat away at me. I had told myself that I cared about Haru, but I wasn't doing anything to help. Meanwhile, Legoshi, who I'd assumed to have a carnivore's worst intentions, was willing to face an entire gang of lions to save her. That thought convinced me to follow after Legoshi. Finding myself at the Shishigumi's hideout, I discovered most of the fighting was taken care of with lions all around dead or unconscious. I made my way up to the Chief Lion's room, somehow missing Legoshi and Haru coming down. I found the Chief Lion standing at his balcony, mad at Legoshi for defeating him and apparently allowing him to live. He was going to snipe them as they were leaving as revenge for the perceived insult. I pulled out my own gun and shot his out of his hand before shoving the end right into that bastard's mouth. I made it clear that I'd never allow him to hurt those two again. Before putting the Chief Lion down, I demanded he beg for his life. That's just like you wanted with us, Philip."
The deer-wolf hybrid's eye twitches. 'Stop comparing us.'
"I pulled the trigger, then I saw other lions enter the room. Not seeing a way to get out of there alive, I essentially gave myself up." Louis gives Philip an unsettling smile, one that's quite similar to the hybrid's own from before. "You want to know what I said to them?"
Philip feels uncomfortable seeing that smile turned back on him by his own father.
Louis spreads his arms as if welcoming the memory of that night. "I told them that I was Number Four. Though I appeared frail, I was good quality meat. They were free to feast and be grateful." The stag chuckles.
Juno is too stunned by this story to have any coherent thoughts.
Ben's clinging to the camera for comfort and support. 'I take it back. Louis doesn't have issues. He's totally nuts.'
Philip just stares at the stag. 'Is my father's preference for carnivores really a death wish in disguise? Seems like it from how happily he's recollecting that memory.'
Louis's arms return to his sides. "When I came to, it was daytime and I'd been suddenly given a new position. The lions had admired my daring, so they decided I'd be the Shishigumi's new boss. Of course, they did have to test me. They sat me down at a table with them and dined on meat in front of me. The Shishigumi wanted to see if I'd be scared or freak out at seeing them consume what had once been living herbivores." Louis grins. "I didn't let that happen. Instead, I took a chunk of meat…and ate it!"
The jaws of everyone in the room and a lot of viewers drop.
Philip shakes his head to recover. "Herbivores can't take in large amounts of meat! It all screws up their bodies because their digestive systems can't fully process it!"
Something clicks in Juno's mind. "Is that why you were so much weaker when I came to find you?"
"Yes," Louis says without looking at the she wolf. "I ate meat every day while I was the acting leader of the Shishigumi."
Ben leans his head against the camera. 'That'll be haunting my nightmares.'
"My right hand man, Ibuki, knew that wasn't good for me. He gave me herbivore food in private."
"Wait a minute," Philip interrupts the stag. "How were you able to stay in the Back Alley Market as the Shishigumi's leader for so long if Oguma was set on you becoming CEO of Horns Conglomerate?"
"I convinced him to give me a leave of absence from Cherryton to find myself. Granted, I'd been hoping to just drop out completely. I asked my father for that…with a gun pointed right at him."
Ben sighs. 'Again with the guns?'
"Why are you so gun happy?!" shouts Juno.
Louis shrugs. "Despite the threat, Father changed it to a leave of absence. I made a brief return to Cherryton to turn in the form." The stag looks back at the she wolf. "I'm guessing you noticed me getting in a car with those lions and followed."
"I thought you were being forced to go with them! I went after you thinking you needed to be saved!"
Philip isn't paying attention. 'Oguma allowed Father to leave Cherryton for an extended period of time? That…doesn't fit with what I know about him.'
"No saving needed, Juno," Louis says to the she wolf. "I appreciated the sentiment even if I didn't show it." The stag focuses on his hybrid son. "In the brief time I was the Shishigumi's boss, I made them the most powerful gang and the Back Alley Market was running like the most efficient of businesses."
"Are you finally done?"
Louis holds up an index finger. "One last detail. The truth about the Riz incident."
Juno's eyes widen. "No. Don't do it, Louis."
"So you learned the truth."
"You don't know what it could do!"
"The world's been kept in the dark for too long!" The stag turns to the camera. "You've all heard the official story. I discovered Riz the Bear was the one who had eaten Tem the Alpaca and lost my leg in the process of stopping him. It's all a lie! The police fabricated that story out of fear of what would happen if the truth got out!"
Ben's shaking. 'I'm actually scared.'
Philip narrows his eyes at the stag. 'More coverups.'
"Legoshi also discovered my situation with the Shishigumi and initially assumed I was a captive. I made it clear to him I was there of my own volition, making him go back to Cherryton without me. The next time he visited me, Legoshi put on a disguise since the Shishigumi weren't fans of him after he'd invaded their hideout." Louis cringes. "I hate it whenever I remember the dumb wolf dressed in drag."
Ben laughs. "Thanks! I needed that!"
Juno smiles a little. "How embarrassing."
Louis sighs. "Legoshi had come to tell me he'd discovered Riz was behind Tem's death. He also wanted me to know he wasn't going to the police about it because he wanted to fight Riz so he could prove some dumb point about carnivores. The idiot wanted me to watch the fight on New Year's Eve no matter what the end result was. All that because he admired and looked up to me." The stag looks down at the floor again. "I never really understood why."
"Admiring you?" asks Philip. "Legoshi's a fool."
Louis's head whips up to glare at the hybrid. "Don't you dare call him that!"
Philip is surprised and a little impressed at that comeback.
The stag takes a deep breath to keep from continuing to blow up at his son. "After he had left, I once again couldn't deal with staying behind in safety while he put his life on the line. So, Ibuki and Free escorted me out of the Back Alley Market so I could get to Legoshi. Ibuki…died along the way." Even though Louis's revealing as much as he can, the stag can't bring himself to give the specifics of Ibuki's death. "This was when I came to realize my truth. After I had spent all of that time with the Shishigumi, losing my most trusted follower, going out to save Legoshi's life, remembering how Juno was willing to endanger her life in order to save me…I had come to admire carnivores for their strength and passion. I have ever since and I will for whatever is left of my life."
Ben and Juno both feel a warmth at this statement.
Philip just feels annoyed. "What the hell does all this have to do with losing your leg?!"
Louis smirks at Philip. "I made my way to where Legoshi and Riz were already fighting. When Riz tried to target me, Legoshi was able to distract him then grab me. When he took me a distance he considered safe for me, Legoshi put me down and got ready to head right back. I had tried to talk him out of it. He was clearly on his way to losing, but Legoshi refused to give up on his stupid ideals. I couldn't stand it. That dumb wolf was so stubborn. I both hated and admired his determination and earnestness. I was torn up at the thought that I was going to lose Legoshi, the one that I'd only just started admitting to myself was my best friend." The stag looks over at the camera. "Can the viewing world guess why I lost my leg?"
Ben feels dread course through him. 'He didn't.'
"If I couldn't convince Legoshi to back out, then I'd give him the strength to take Riz on! I had Legoshi eat my leg!"
'I'll need therapy after this.'
Philip's jaw has dropped again. 'It's official. I'm the son of a total psycho.'
Louis points at the camera. "The police didn't want you all to know the truth fearing it'd encourage more predation incidents! Is that really who the carnivores of the world are?! Vicious and lying opportunists claiming consent to justify giving in to instinct?! I don't think so! You all have eggs and fish! So many different kinds of fish! Don't any of you dare throw your life away for the sake of a momentary satisfaction that takes a life and makes things so much harder for the lot of you in the long run! Be a better kind of carnivore!" Louis breathes heavily.
"Why?" Philip asks suddenly.
The stag looks back at his son. "Why what?"
"After all that crazy shit you did for carnivores, why would you marry Azuki?"
"Three reasons. After my father died, I felt obligated to go through with it since I felt that I owed him for taking me out of that livestock tower. I would've been a meal without him."
"You can't be serious. You were a tool to Oguma."
"You're wrong. He might've had questionable methods and was emotionally stunted, but Oguma did love me and wish the best for me. That last interaction with him you'd belittled was definitive proof. What other reason besides love would he have had for allowing me the leave of absence?"
"You had a gun pointed at him."
"While asking to drop out, which he changed to a leave of absence."
'If that's love, I'm glad I never had it.' "Reason two?"
"I wished to change the world, which was easiest to do as CEO of Horns Conglomerate."
"But Azuki and your Board of Directors denied you any chance to implement the changes you wanted to make. Mother put all the same changes into action since she was free of any form of restraint…including me."
Louis's hand reaches back and squeezes Juno's shoulder, knowing she'd feel hurt by that comment.
"When you realized you couldn't do the things you'd hoped to, why would you stay with Azuki?! Why would you keep fronting a company that didn't respect you one bit and forced you into compliance?! Why'd you live so stupidly while I wound up becoming the world's punching bag?! WHY?!"
Louis sighs while taking his hand away from Juno.
The she wolf can tell, even from behind, that the stag has suddenly become haggard.
"It's because of…that third reason. I…needed to be…in a place of…power."
The room fills with silence.
"I knew it!" shouts Philip. "I called it! Selfishness! Avarice! Fame! So, Louis the Red Deer turns out to be greed incarnate!"
"Wow," Ben says in disappointment.
"I was right about you," Juno says feeling hurt.
The she wolf's statement really stings for Louis. "If I didn't have that power…then I was livestock again."
The others look at him in confusion.
"Any hint of losing my place, any words attacking my position, then getting voted out for real, I saw the bars of my cell. I was a meal waiting to happen again."
Ben frowns. 'Trauma. His decisions were based on trauma he's refused to acknowledge completely.'
Juno stares at the shivering stag's back. 'Every brave thing you ever did…it was because the alternative was feeling powerless. Being powerless meant being livestock in your mind.'
Louis looks at his hands. "Standing here now, I see what letting that rule over me cost. I have forced everyone I care about and love out of my life." The stag looks to the camera. "Hear me world. I am Louis. I am herbivore." Before saying his final statement, Louis feels the last of his pride crumble into dust. "I am weak."
AN: Louis has declared himself weak to the world. That kind of sucks. Luckily, Legoshi and the lions are on their way to save Louis and Juno. The results of that effort to come next time.
