Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I promised myself that I'd start off my first day of school with a good night’s sleep. But the universe had other plans for me, I guess. Still, what’s a race with no hurdles, right?

I was heading home after a long shift at the greenhouse. They always had me do all the weekend detailing after hours every Sunday. Great way to start off the week with a lot of strong sales. Also a great way to kill my back and leave me with muddy fingernails, but that was a problem for Monday Kaito. 

It also meant I had to ride home in the dark. My grandparents lived about thirty minutes outside the city, and the forest at night was just crawling with all kinds of wild stuff. I kept my eyes peeled for excitement or the odd deer crossing. So it kinda surprised me when I almost hit some guy trudging along the side of the road. I just turned the bend and there he was. I swerved out of the way and finally stopped my bike on the road’s shoulder, about five meters ahead. I should’ve just gone home, but this guy almost got hit. And what was he doing out there on foot anyway?

I leaned on my bike, fumbling through the pockets of my puffy jacket, and I was yelling. “Hey, what’re ya doing? You scared the hell out of me! Get off the road, man!” I finally fished my flashlight out of my jacket pocket and clicked it on. It was a guy about my age. And he looked like shit.

He had on a pretty conservative black on black outfit.  Not quite a school uniform, but pretty damn close for someone’s out-of-school wear. One of his sleeves was missing at the elbow. He had a black hat on that covered most of his hair and some of his face. He reached up, shielded his eyes from my flashlight. His other hand had blood running down it. His hands were thin, kinda delicate looking. The blood was coming from a gash on his forearm. Once his hand dropped, I could see his face better. His eyes were kind of piercing. They were pretty though, like a girls’. This guy needed help.

I walked my bike over to him. "Geez man, what the hell happened to you?" I said.

"I was attacked by…something. I-I didn't really get a good look at it." His voice lacked confidence, but he was in pain and had some bigger problems to deal with then. 

"Coulda been just about anything in this forest. But enough about that. You need to be rescued. We can save the details for the ride home. Hop on." 

He looked at me, all confused. "Ride with you? That's not really necessary. You don't know me. If I can just borrow your phone, I can call-" I'd heard enough.

"There's no time to waste, and there's no way I can leave someone bleeding on the side of the road! You can rest at my place and go home in the morning." I planted my hand on his far shoulder blade and guided him. He flinched a bit, but he didn't pull away, and walked with me to my bike. Once he sat down on the back, his feet on the pegs, I kicked off with the pedals, and we were off. 

‘Course, we almost ate it immediately, ‘cuz I hadn't given a friend a ride on my bike in, well ever. This guy was heavier than I thought, so it took a second for me to feel it out. Eventually, we started making our way down the road. 

We sat in silence for a little while. I guess he was shy around strangers, but I would have been embarrassed to be in his situation too. I gave him a bit, and eventually he spoke up. “You know, I appreciate the help, but you could get fined for this. It’s not legal to ride bikes like this.”

I said back, “Yeah, true. But it’s not okay to leave an injured person alone in the woods either.”

“I guess, but I don’t think you’ll get fined for that.”

“A fine’s not as important as your life, man. Besides, there’s not another police checkpoint until we get into town. We can get off the bike and walk the rest of the way.”

“Ah, that’s true. But my house is still a few miles past that. We’ll be walking for a while.”

“Oh, you live out here too, huh? Well it’s alright. My place is just a few blocks past the checkpoint.”

“Do you…normally let people into your house before you know their names?”  

“You know, now that you mention it, I don’t. Guess I forgot to introduce myself, huh?”

I heard him snicker to himself, but it wasn't a rude one. “Well no, but I guess I didn’t either. I’m Shuichi Saihara.”

“It’s Kaito Momota. Nice to meetcha, Shuichi.” There was a lull in the conversation, which gave me time to notice something weird. “So uh, you go for walks in the woods often or something?”

Shuichi’s voice skipped a few pitches when he stuttered out, “Wha- Uh, n-no, nothing like that. I was riding my bike through the woods. I didn’t see where I was going and well, crashed.” The embarrassment in his voice was pretty obvious. Guess I would've been embarrassed to admit something like that to a stranger too. Not that I’d ever crash my bike like that, but you know, I get it. “What about you?” he added. “It’s a little late to be coming back from the city. Unless maybe you work out there?”

“Figured all that out, huh? You’re sharp, Shuichi. Yeah, I work at a greenhouse. Late shift tonight though. Gonna be tired as hell for my first day back to school.”

“Me too. Sorry I’m making your night even longer…”

“What’re ya talkin’ about? No way I could just leave you on the road like that. Geez man, don’t apologize over nothing.”

“Is it still nothing if I say ‘sorry for getting blood on your jacket?’”

“Oh shit, did you? Hope that comes out in the wash… Naw, I’m just kidding. Just save some of that stuff for yourself, got it?”

 “Okay, yeah.” 

I couldn't see Shuichi’s face, but even in his voice, I could hear the tension fading. The guy had been through a lot, at least that night. But he was with me now. About time he chilled out. 

We passed the rest of the ride without a lot of talking. If I was tired from the heavy bike ride, I could only have imagined how tired Shuichi was after the night he’d had. We played it cool as we passed the police checkpoint, but by the time we made it to my front door, our energy was shot. If it wasn’t for the spring cold chilling us through and making us shiver, I might’ve collapsed on the doorstep and taken a nap right away.

“I don’t know. Won’t your parents think it’s weird to let a stranger sleep in their house?” Shuichi was still fishing for any excuse not to impose. The guy needed to know when to quit and just let someone help him.

“Naw, my grandparents are already asleep. I’ll explain it to 'em in the morning. For now we need to get our asses in bed. You need rest, and I need sleep.”

“Don’t we both kind of need both?”

“Even if I had the energy to sweat the details, I still wouldn’t, man. Come on, lemme set up a futon for ya.”

I set Shuichi up in the main room before getting ready for bed myself. I even gave him some of my pajamas to sleep in, but I never saw him change into them. I just showed him where to find everything he needed to clean up his wound, then headed to bed. A man's gotta have some privacy for stuff like that. 

I waited on the other side of my door, listening until I heard him get into bed. Once I heard the sound of blankets ruffling, I collapsed into my own bed, and passed out.

A few hours later, I felt a chill across my face, and woke up with a start. My room was still dark, but the air had definitely dropped a few degrees. I slid into my slippers, and peeked out of my room.

The futon's blankets were thrown open, and no one was sleeping in them. I went out into the main room. The bathroom was empty, and the house was quiet, except for a draft coming from a window near the door. It was open, but only a crack, and the bite of the cold air creeped through it. I checked every room in the house once more to be sure, but I think I already knew.

Shuichi was gone.

Chapter Text

“Hurry up you guys, we don’t have all night!” I yelled back to the slackers behind me.

“We’re here to see the stars, right? So isn’t that, like, exactly how long we have? All night?” Kokichi said back, nagging at me. He only ever picked the worst times to split hairs with me. Nobody I asked ever confirmed he went to our school, but he kept our club above the legal minimum size, so I never called him on it.

“You can stay out here all night and freeze to death if you want. Once I see that comet, I’m out of here whether you’re coming or not. Remind me why we’re still following him through this entire forest?” said Maki. She never seemed happy to be in the Astronomy Club, and she wouldn’t admit to spending time with us in front of anyone. But she still never missed a chance to use the telescope, and this night was no exception.

“Kaito said he knows a clearing with good visibility. Dunno why he’s rushing us through a pitch-black forest though. Kid’s gonna sprain an ankle, or worse.” Ryoma huffed. He was less trouble than the other two, but was always up front about the fact that he was only in the Astronomy Club because he had been barred from any sport, trade, or “physically-minded” club. It was some deal he’d made with the headmaster to keep him in school after some trouble he’d caused. He also called me “kid,” despite being almost a full year younger than me. So yeah, I couldn’t stand him.

Eventually the forest path opened up to a clearing that overlooked a small lake. I’d spent my childhood years playing in that lake, so I knew I could find it, even at night. “Alright you guys. Get that telescope set up and try to note any differences from what we can see at school. The light pollution should be a lot less this far out, so we gotta make sure to note anything that could go on the starcharts we’re making for the festival!” I said.

“The telescope? Oops! Was I supposed to bring that?” Kokichi said with a chime that screamed “bullshit.” 

“If you were, you did a lousy job of carrying it,” Ryoma said before plopping the club’s telescope onto the grass. 

Maki and Ryoma set to work aligning the telescope and focusing it properly. I set up the long-exposure camera and took some test shots for calibration. We’d only been a club for a few weeks, but with the April weather being as temperamental as it was, we only had a few nights like this to gather as many pictures and as much data on the cosmos as possible. The comet had an especially small window, and there was no way we’d miss it. 

Once all the equipment was set up, I left the initial observation up to the other members. I was hoping the first-hand exposure to the wonders of space would finally inspire some enthusiasm in them. Maki said I was slacking off. 

While I was snapping some pictures of the stars and the other three were chatting among themselves, I heard a dead branch snap a few meters from the edge of the clearing. I looked up, but with the moon waxing, I could barely see the trees, much less whoever, or whatever, was just beyond them. I set the camera to take another long shot, and walked toward the sound.

I wasn’t expecting trouble. In all the years I’d played in this forest, I hadn’t run into any dangerous animals. But if there was a weirdo watching us, I was going to be the one to handle it. Whatever it was, I could take it. I yelled into the trees, “If someone’s there, you’d better show yourself! Don’t make me come in there!”

Before I could move, a shadow emerged from the brush. It shuffled slowly to one side, then the other. Then it grew. And grew. Until it was almost as tall as me. It took a step closer. I reached into my pocket, finally finding my phone. I turned on its flashlight.

“AH!” Shuichi screamed.

I must have startled the shit out of him, cuz he fell backward and landed on the bush he’d just come from. Once I’d gotten off the ground, I lent him a hand. “Jesus Shuichi, you really spooked me. What’re you messing around for?”

Shuichi took my hand and got back to his feet. His eyes were still wide as glass globes as he said, “Sorry! Sorry, I didn’t mean to. I didn’t know anyone else was- was out here. Hi…?”

I hadn’t talked to Shuichi since that first night when we met. When I went to school the next day, I saw him passing by me in the halls. He must be another freshman, just in a different class. I’ve tried to get his attention the few times I’ve seen him, but he’d never heard me. Or ignored me every time he did. 

It had really stuck with me, any time I saw him: why did he leave my place that night? Did I…make him uncomfortable? It was kind of an unusual way to meet someone. And I can’t blame him if he felt vulnerable. But he never asked for my phone once we were home. I would’ve let him use it, once he was safe and had stopped bleeding. He could’ve called home, gotten a ride. Instead, he just ran away without saying a thing to me. It kind of pissed me off, to be honest.

I had told myself not to get too worked up about it. At the end of the day, I’d done my job. Shuichi must’ve made it home. He made it to school the next day. But if he wasn’t comfortable around me that night after all, if I’d misread his feelings somehow, I didn’t want to make it worse by bothering him…more. Besides, I had an astronomy club to start. I had more important things to focus on. 

But here he was, showing up out of nowhere. In the forest. Again. Where we’d met before. And he was acting all nervous and panicked. Wait…what was he doing here?

“Wait a second, Shuichi.”

“Huh?”

“If you didn’t know anyone else was out here, what’re you doing here?”

“Ah, well you see. I was only, well…it’s a beautiful night out, and I just thought…” Shuichi’s eyes started quickly darting around as he stammered, nervously clutching his arm, where his gash had been. I’d caught him. He was lying. And I knew exactly what was going on.

“Oh come on man, come clean already.”

“Huh? A-about what?”

“About wanting to join the Astronomy Club of course!”

“Ah-”

“You followed us out here, didn’t you? Come on man, what’re you sneaking around for? I would’ve let you into the club if you’d asked!”

“A-astronomy? Yeah. Yeah! That’s right, I wanted to join your club. I, I hadn’t found one I liked, but this sounded pretty interesting. Is that okay, with you?”

“Of course it is, man! Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Well I did follow you out here. And I didn’t stay at your house that night, right? And at, at school?”

“Aw, who cares about that stuff, man! You think I’d still be hung up on things like that? I’m just glad you’re interested in astronomy! We could use someone like you, someone who really cares about this stuff. Someone who’ll hike out here willingly to hang out under the moon and stars…”

“...right.”

“Come on, man! I’ve gotta introduce you to the others,” I say, hooking an arm around his shoulder and leading him into the clearing. He stayed under my arm, offering up a wave to the others with one hand, his other holding tight to his arm. It must still be tender.

“Hey everybody! I found us a new member!”

Chapter Text

I peeked my head back into the empty Astronomy club classroom and hollered, “Hey Shuichi, you ready to go yet? You’re the last one out.” 

Shuichi was fiddling around in one of the closets. “Sorry, almost done! I need to add the photos from the last trip to the collage, but I can’t find them.” 

“The one you skipped? I think Kokichi put ‘em away.”

“Ah, no wonder they’re not where I thought they’d be. Here we go.”

“Dumbass probably hid them on purpose.” 

Shuichi finally joined me, stuffing the photos into a folder in his backpack. “Probably, but it’s not too hard to keep up with once you get used to him. He thinks nobody’s noticed the loose board on the bottom left, so he puts a lot of stuff there.”

I locked the empty room behind us and we started walking to our bikes. “If you say so. Make sure you don’t miss the next trip, or Kokichi’ll find an even worse hiding place next time.”

“Yeah sorry, it just came at a bad time. They are pretty fun, although I still can’t really find very many of the constellations on my own.”

“That’s what I’m here for!”

“I guess…but I think you’d have more fun if you could just look for yourself instead of spending the whole time showing us where they are.”

“Maybe once you guys can keep pace with me, but you’ve got a lot I can still help with first.”

“Well I’m doing my best, but you might be waiting a while, at least for the other two guys.”

“Yeah, don’t remind me.”

We reached our bikes at the school’s entrance. The sun was always setting by the time we started our long bike ride home. Ever since Shuichi joined the Astronomy Club, he and I had been riding back to our part of town together. On our own bikes, which is a lot faster, it turns out. We chilled out and coasted down the forest road, just like we always did.

That said, this bike ride was quieter than most. Shuichi listened well enough to my thoughts about space and how the Astronomy Club was doing, what plans I had for the festival in the fall, and my theories about aliens. But today, whenever I got done with my rant, he wasn’t really picking the conversation back up with a new topic. I took my eyes off the road for a moment to look back at him. The guy was in his head about something, barely paying attention to the road in front of him.

“You alright, Shuichi?”

“Ah, what?”

“You got something on your mind, man?”

“Oh, I guess so. Sorry.”

“Well out with it then! You can tell me anything man.”

“It’s…my uncle.”

“Did he get on your case about being out late again? He’s gotta let you go out on our next stargazing trip. It’s not the same without you, man.”

“No, that’s not it this time. He wants me to go with him on his next stakeout.”

“He’s letting you work cases with him? That’s good, right? Didn’t you say you wanted to help him with cases more?”

“I did but…I don’t think this one is a good idea. He wants me to go with him next Saturday night.”

“Oh yeah? That’s when the next blood moon is, you know. Maybe you should take the camera with you or something!”

Shuichi didn’t respond for a long beat. Wait, was he…

“Shuichi, are you being superstitious? It’s just a lunar eclipse, man. Nothing bad’s gonna happen, y’know?”

“But, what if it’s not going to be okay? What if things get dangerous and my uncle gets hurt? What if I can’t stop it?”

“Aw, you’re overthinking this, man. Your uncle’s a capable detective. He’s not gonna make a rookie mistake and put you guys in danger.”

“It’s not him I’m worried about…”

I pumped the brakes on my bike and came to a stop. Shuichi’s reflexes were slower and he barely stopped a meter or so behind me. I turned and looked him dead in the eyes.

“Stop talking like that man! Whether you believe in yourself or not, I believe in you! Your uncle believes in you! One of these days, you’re going to have to accept the potential inside of you. You’re capable of so much!”

But Shuichi did something that caught me by surprise. He didn’t blush or get embarrassed. He didn’t smile or nod. He frowned at me, said “you don’t get it, Kaito,” and kicked into his pedals, swerving past me. 

For a moment, I was too stunned to respond. In all the time we’d been friends, Shuichi had never snapped at me like that. And after I’d stopped everything to keep him from being self-deprecating? After I’d driven home how he wouldn’t let his uncle down, how much I believed in him?!

“What the hell do you mean, ‘I don’t get it?’” I turned and yelled at Shuichi’s back, the distance growing each moment. He didn’t slow down, and he didn’t respond. I was at my limit. I kicked off the ground and raced after him.

Shuichi had only created a little distance before I reacted, and his pace was only slightly faster than our normal one. I was pedaling as fast as I could, and caught back up in no time. Once my bike was just behind Shuichi’s I yelled out to him again. “So we’re doing this again? You run away without telling me what I did wrong?”

“You don’t understand what I’m going through, Kaito. This is dangerous,” Shuichi yelled back. He didn’t even try to look at me as he kept his stubborn pace.

I tried to speed up to get past Shuichi, but he blocked the shoulder each time I swayed to the side. Short of swerving into the street, I couldn’t get past him. “Then tell me! What’s so bad about your uncle’s stakeout that you’re scared this shitless?”

“I can’t!” Shuichi pedalled harder, and the gap between us grew again.

“What do you mean, ‘you can’t?’ I told you, you can tell me anything!” He left me no choice. I swung into the car lane on Shuichi’s other side, until we were neck and neck.

Shuichi’s eyes were wide, racing with fear and panic. “I can’t be there with him! I’ll…I’ll…KAITO, MOVE!” I looked away from Shuichi’s face to see lights casting my shadow far in front of me. I turned my head. A car was behind me. It wasn’t slowing down.

For a moment, all I could do was absorb everything. The driver’s face, the back of the phone she was looking at instead of the road, the color of the car hurtling toward me. But then I felt a hand on my handlebar. It yanked hard, and my bike veered harder, pulling me back toward Shuichi. The two of our bikes, now linked by Shuichi, swung away from the car and toward the far shoulder. Shuichi hit the pump brakes of both our bikes, but only just before they banged into each other, and threw us from them. 

I tumbled, and Shuichi must’ve too. I shielded my head, and thankfully only my arms and legs got the worst of it. The trees and asphalt danced, trading places again and again, and then they were still. My head was alright, but I felt the pulsing throb of impact on my arms, knees, shins. I planted my hand on the asphalt to lift myself up, and a hot pain shot through my palm. I flinched on a reflex, curling back down until I was on the ground, looking up at the sky, dotted with treetops. 

Then Shuichi showed up, towering above me. He was already on his feet. How did he get up so fast? He had some scuff marks on his pants and dirt on his hands, but otherwise, he didn’t look hurt. He was fine? Part of me was relieved. But I was pissed off too. 

He was looking down at me with those sharp, gold eyes of his, panicked to all hell. “I’m sorry! Kaito, I’m so sorry. I tried to stop, but I pulled too fast. Aaah- your hand is bleeding!” And then he started crying too. Over me. Perfect. God it was so embarrassing. I was fine. I wanted him to shut the hell up. To quit fussing over me. To quit giving me that look. “Here, let me help you up.” Help me? That was fucking rich. Then he grabbed my wrist.

I yanked my arm back. “Leave it, man! I’m fine, alright? I can do it myself.” He froze at first, some thought stewing behind his eyes, then wiped his eye, adding dirt to his tears in a smear across his face. Then he ran away from me and the bikes, back into the forest.

I got to my feet, wincing as I went. “Hey Shuichi! Where the hell are you going? Wait!” He kept running. My leg whined at me as I stepped forward, but I stepped anyway. Again and again, I chased after him.

“Shuichi?! Shuichi!” I called into the forest as I walked, as fast as my legs would let me. As I walked off my scrapes, I picked up the pace. I hiked a little uphill, which put the road just out of sight. On the other side, Shuichi was standing with his back to me, leaning on a nearby tree. His back was heaving, like he was gasping for air. “There you are! What’re you doing running off like that?”

“Stay away from me! It’s not safe!” Shuichi yelled back at me, still gasping for breath.

“It’s just us, man. I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“I HURT YOU!” Shuichi sobbed, frantic and bitter. “You keep saying that I’m capable of so much but I KNOW THAT, KAITO! I know how much damage I can do! ”  

The desperation in his voice cut right through me. Goddamnit, this was my fault. I said the wrong thing. I pushed him. I wouldn’t just let him go. I drove into the street. And now he was blaming himself for it. What was I doing, just letting him take the responsibility for all of this? 

I walked closer. “Shuichi, it’s okay. I’m fine. Way better than I woulda been if you hadn’t pulled me out of there. It was stupid riding in the street like that. You…” I cringe. “You…saved me, man. Let’s go home.”

“No, I put you in danger. You shouldn’t be around me!” Shuichi sniffled, “I’m a monster…”

My heart sank, hearing Shuichi say that. This poor guy, taking all the blame for my mistakes after saving my life. I was supposed to be helping him. I had to make him see. “Shuichi, you’re my right hand at the Astronomy Club! You’re like my sidekick! You’re not a monster.” I rested my hand on his shoulder.

He whipped around, catching my wrist in his delicate hand in a rigid grip. His eyes glared holes into mine. They looked wild, and this time they were orange as a dying sun. “YES. I AM.” His voice shook through my entire body.

My free hand reflexively grabbed at his grip, trying to pry myself loose. I couldn’t budge him. His other hand grabbed a fistful of my collar, tie, and shirt. He let go of my hand, then began to extend his other arm. My feet left the ground, and Shuichi held me up, dangling me by my shirt.

I looked down, and Shuichi’s legs were shaking, stretching the fabric of his pants taut. His muscles were quivering, and the more I watched, the less human they looked. The space where his shin met his ankle seemed to be extending. The skin underneath wasn’t skin at all, but pitch black fur. His shoes also swelled, until grey claws started to pop out, through the scuffed black fabric. A stripe of black-furred midriff was forming under Shuichi’s shirt as his torso also seemed to be extending. His back started to curve, and before I knew it, the arm holding me wasn’t so extended anymore. I was being held several feet off the ground by an eight-foot wolf-monster. It was holding me like a doll. 

I started screaming as the world fell out below me, and my friend contorted into a monster before my eyes. I finally stopped looking at everything else and stared back at Shuichi’s face, which was long gone. In the place of his soft face was a black wolf, with the ears, nose, and fangs to match. The eyes were the same orange though. And they were just as pissed.

“Shuichi, wake up man! Shuichi? I know you’re in there!” I yelled, but the wolf only responded with a growl. He pulled me closer, centimeters from his jaws. They were almost big enough to fit my whole head inside. I had a sinking feeling it’d forgotten who it was holding. 

No…Shuichi wouldn’t do that. Shuichi wouldn’t…do this. I scooped up what little courage I have left in my shaking body, and yelled with all my might. “Shuichi! It’s me, Kaito! I’m okay! You didn’t hurt me! I’m still here! I’m…I’M STILL HERE!”

The wolf’s ears shifted, and it blinked at me. Then again. The fire receded from its eyes, and my friend’s Saturn-colored eyes were in its place. Shuichi.

He put me down gently and his clawed grip loosed from the tears in my shirt. The wolf that was Shuichi let out one lonely whine, and then flew like a blur, deeper into the forest. Out of sight. Leaving me alone. He’d let me go.

I fell on my ass, overwhelmed by everything. Shuichi is a werewolf. My breathing started to slow. Turns out I had almost been hyperventilating. I snapped him out of it. He could hear me. I started to laugh. Then I started to laugh so hard that tears formed. Then I gave in to those tears. Then I stopped laughing. Shuichi almost killed me…

Chapter Text

I woke up from my third nap of the day, sweating up a storm. I worked my way to sitting up, and drank some of the tea by my bed. I was staying home from school for the day, Gran’s orders. Guess I caught something out in the woods last night. I almost convinced her I was fine and could go to school. Then I fainted, so I guess that was that. 

I’m just glad all she noticed was my fever and not all my scratches and bruises. She told me to stop being such a tough patient, but there was no way I was gonna worry her with all of that stuff. They were gonna heal just like this head cold anyway. But until then I was grounded.

I hated being sick. If I wasn’t gonna be in school, I oughta be training or exploring or doing something useful. Wrapped up in blankets, sleeping the day away, it just wasn’t my style. Still, maybe it was for the best. Sick or not, I don’t think I would’ve been much use in class. I dreaded the thought of showing up there and seeing Shuichi after what happened yesterday. And going to school and not seeing him sounded just about as bad. 

I had lots of chances to dream today, cuz my sleep kept stopping and starting. Almost all of them were some part of yesterday, like they were taunting me or something. Car lights, fangs and fur, Shuichi laughing at my jokes in Astronomy Club, Shuichi crying and running away from me, into the woods… My brain just wouldn’t shut up about it. Waking made it quieter, so I swore off any more naps. Instead, I slowly crawled out of bed and took my mug and blanket to the front window. This fever had me acting like a space case, and looking at the sunset sounded better than staring at my ceiling.

‘Course, the view outside, the woods, tall and black, with the pink and orange sun behind them, it all got my brain waxing philosophical. Those woods felt different now, when I looked into ‘em. All those times I played in them, walked through those trees. I never felt like anything bad was going to happen. Now, just peering into the black, barely anything visible in the shadows, it sent shivers down my spine. But maybe that was just my fever’s cold flashes. 

I didn’t have too much time to think about it though. Shuichi was biking into town from the highway. I thought he would’ve already been home a few hours ago, but apparently not. I was happy to see him at first, but then I remembered what happened yesterday, which snapped me out of it. I scrambled down from the window and pulled down the blinds. My tea spilled on me when I hit the ground.

I couldn’t tell you exactly why I didn’t want Shuichi to see me. He knew where my house was. I definitely wasn’t scared of him or anything. Couldn't be that. I just thought he might be scared of me, what I knew, what I might think of him. That would make sense. He was probably feeling bad, and I didn’t wanna make that worse by locking eyes with him now.

After about a minute, I got up off the floor, and peered through the blinds again. Just making sure Shuichi was really gone. He wasn't. He was right outside my window. I almost fell back to the floor again. But he wasn’t looking into my house. He was leaving. He’d walked up to my door, and now he was leaving. He hadn’t knocked.

I watched him climb back on his bike, with his backpack over his shoulders. Then he rode away, my eyes following the spinning wheels until he was out of sight.

I opened my door to see a stack of papers. It was a bunch of worksheets, a drawing, and a thick stack of notes in some neat handwriting. I thought Shuichi had taken notes on my missing schoolwork for me, but he wasn't in my class. I looked a little closer and saw that I knew the handwriting. It was Maki’s.

The drawing was a lot less helpful. It was the night sky, with a constellation message writing in lines connecting the stars.

GET BETTER
OR DON’T
THEN I CAN HAVE YOUR LOCKER

There was another, smaller constellation that looked like an eight, an equal sign, and the letter D, whatever that meant.

The worksheets each had a handwritten paper stapled to the back. It was an answer key. The characters were much blockier and a little sloppy. At the top of the first worksheet, there was a note in the same blocky writing. “Don’t slack off and just use the answer sheets to do the work. Study first or you won’t learn. I’m not your dad, so don’t expect me to check.”
I took my tea and blanket back to my room and did homework for the rest of the night, feeling a lot less alone than I had been.

–

The next day played out pretty much the same. My scratches were on the mend, but my bruises were healing a little uglier, more blue than even the day before. I was still sick, but getting up and walking around was fine. The dreams weren’t quite as bad either. A lot more of them were about Shuichi and the Astronomy Club, smiling with me. I guess a lot of my waking thoughts were too.

When the evening rolled around, I grabbed a robe, made myself an extra large thermos of tea, and sat outside on my front porch. The house was getting stuffy. And besides, I wasn’t gonna miss him twice in a row.

At almost exactly the same time, Shuichi came riding out of the same black forest, backlit by the same orange and pink sunbeams. Once he got closer though, I could tell something was different. 

For one thing, he was wearing that stuffy-looking black hat. He stopped wearing it sometime after joining the Astronomy Club and I hadn't seen it since. It made him look like he was hiding. 

He got all the way to the beginning of my street before I could properly see his face. He was wearing a facemask. Maybe I wasn’t the only one who’d caught something in the forest that night.

He got to my house and hopped off his bike as if he was on auto-pilot. His head must have been somewhere else because he unloaded another packet of papers from his bag and was halfway up my steps when his eyes finally focused on me sitting there. He froze in place. Then he dropped my notes on the ground, like he forgot his hands were holding anything at all. He turned and headed back to his bike without a word. 

“Hey! Hey wait,” I shouted at him, caught off-guard by the awkward suddenness of it. 

Shuichi didn’t stop. He was back on his bike when I said, “What the hell, man? Shuichi, talk to me!” I got up from the stoop and chased after him in my robe and slippers. I got to the pavement before he was to the end of the block. It felt like if he rode another few feet, I’d never see him again. I called down the street, “SHUICHI, STAY!” 

His tires came to a screeching stop. There was a pause. And then he yelled back, “I’M NOT A DOG, KAITO.”

I'd meant it as more of a request than a command, but he clearly didn't think so. I started walking toward him. “I DIDN’T MEAN LIKE THAT, DUMBASS!”

“EVEN IF I WAS…IT WOULDN’T WORK LIKE THAT!"

“OKAY, SORRY!”

“YOU’RE NOT MY MASTER!” 

“I KNOW!” 

“I CAN LEAVE WHENEVER I WANT!”

"Of course man, definitely!" He hadn’t moved from where he’d slammed on his brakes. At that point, I'd walked close enough to talk normally.

“I'm only staying because I...” Shuichi didn't finish his sentence.

“Because you…?” I was smiling, but he wouldn’t meet my eyes, keeping the bill of his hat between us.

"I just…didn't want you to misunderstand." 

"Uh huh, yeah." I wasn't teasing him, I swear. But I couldn't help but keep smiling. "I understand that you brought me my homework. Twice. Thanks, man."

I went to pat Shuichi's shoulder, but he flinched away from me. "I just brought it. The Astronomy Club put it together. It was the least I could do." 

He said it all matter-of-fact, like he was trying to keep his tone from giving anything away. 

"I'm sorry, by the way. For, you know, making you miss class." He still couldn't look me in the eye. 

"I caught a cold, man. Nothing we can do about that." I chuckled, but my heart wasn't in it. We both knew that wasn't what Shuichi was apologizing for. 

"I told you to stay away…" His voice was shaking. He sounded like he'd cry if I said the wrong thing, but I couldn't tell if that was because he was sorry or because he was angry. Maybe it was both.

"But I didn't. And we're both still okay."

"Are you?"

This made me pause.

"Am I what?"

"Are you okay?"

"Of course, bro. It's just a little cold and a few scratches. I'd be back at school already if my Gran had let me."

"...Really?" He sounded like he wanted to believe me, but wouldn’t risk hoping for it. 

"Really! Come on, give me some credit! Besides, why are you fussing about me right now? You've got a way bigger problem on your hands!" 

Shuichi squirmed where he stood. He clearly didn't want to talk about it. But there was no avoiding it. 

"When did you start turning into that thing?" He didn’t speak at first. “Shuichi, you can tell me.”

"...it was after the first night we met. When I got attacked." His voice petered off, like he'd give up without more encouragement.

"Did you get bit or something? That's how werewolves work in movies." I chuckled nervously. Every word felt like a minefield.

"Yeah, I think so. It did something to me. That night, I woke up feeling strange and panicked. I was halfway home when I started to change. So I hid in the woods until morning."

"That's awful, man. So you've been dealing with that this whole time? You should have said something! I would've helped you."

"Why would you have believed me?"

"Well, seeing is believing. You were pretty convincing a few days ago," I said, scratching my neck. Shuichi shot me a disapproving glare. Too soon, I guess.

"It's too dangerous. I can't change in front of people. I can wrestle control from it sometimes, but most of the time it can't even remember that it's me. It's just a monster that destroys everything in its path." He paced nervously, leaving me to hold his bike. It was like he had a riddle that he had to solve, no matter what. I remembered how panicked he’d been when we were fighting.

"You're worried about your uncle, aren't you?"

He wheeled around to face me, something fiery in his eyes. "It's the blood moon, Kaito! There's no way I can stop myself from turning under a red full moon. I can't even fully turn back right now, and it's not until tomorrow night!" His voice was so desperate and scared, I almost didn't catch what he'd said.

"Wait, what do you mean?' What's going on with you?"

Shuichi’s shoulders dropped and he gestured to his face, defeated. I stepped closer and slowly lifted his hat from his head. His hair was the same, though a little flat. But that was not the issue. The issue was his ears. They stretched another five centimeters above where they should've been. Like someone had grabbed at the end and tugged. 

He unhooked his mask too. His face, where the mask had been, had hair or rather, fur, growing from the sides of his nose. It jutted out unnaturally, like a bee stung him, waited for it to swell and then stung him again for good measure. I didn't mean to, but I stepped back before I could stop myself. 

The face of the monster flashed in my mind. It'd been so close. The black fur against my skin. The hot, heaving breaths through giant teeth. It could've ripped into me whenever it wanted. I felt my skin going cold, except for the beads of sweat carving their way down my neck. 

"That's…geez Shuichi, this is serious."

He began to breathe unevenly. "I don't know what I'm going to tell my uncle. If I change, I could hurt him." Then he started crying. He wiped the tears from his cheeks. His arms were covered in hair.

"Kaito, I could kill him. What if I can't stop-"

I cut him off. "I'll stop you then!"

"What? How?" He was sniffling. He needed me.

"Tell your uncle you can't go with him! You have to stay at my place and study for the night." I placed a hand on his shoulder. I was going to be there, by his side. I'd saved him before, I could do it again.

"But what if I turn? What're you gonna do?" He looked into my eyes, pleading. Then I saw the feral look behind his eyes. I thought of fangs and fur. I dug my hand into his shoulder so I couldn't pull it away.

I formed a smile with all I had. "Easy, I'm tying you up."