[fanfic] Werewolves of London
Sep. 1st, 2004 04:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ickaimpThe orginal inspriation for this story was the song "Werewolves of London" by Warren Zevon. Because the thought of Hakuba being a London Werewolf in Japan amused us.
Then it mutated. Several times. And no longer has nothing to do with the song. Go figure. ^^;;
There's a darker version of events in progress, tentatively called 'Shiro'.
+++ +++ +++ +++ +++
"Try to avoid nibbling on things today. Despite recent developments, you don't actually know your friend that well yet."
-humorscope.com
"What's next? Werewolves?" -Edogawa Conan "Dracula's Castle"
+++ Werewolf +++
It had been precisely 11 hours, 17 minutes and 14 seconds since Hakuba Saguru's life had been turned upside down.
That was when the moon rose.
He had been feeling restless all day, an unusual feeling for him, so he had decided to take a short stroll to burn off some of the extra energy before returning to his attempts to do his homework.
A short walk that had led him walking all the way from Ekoda to one of the parks outside of Beika. He had been slightly calmer outside, luxuriating on the feel of the wind brushing against his skin when he had caught sight of the first pale sliver of the moon peering over the horizon.
That was when the pain hit. He had doubled over, feeling like the contents of his stomach were attempting to crawl back out of his throat, bringing the lungs and most of the upper intestine with it. The sickly vertigo and nausea that accompanied it lasted only for mere moments, just long enough for the moon to finish clearing the horizon, before fading away to a more acceptable level.
And he found himself wondering how the heck his nails had grown so long. As well as the restless feeling returning, stronger than before. He wanted to move, to run and jump and roll around on the grass like a little kid. Anything but sit there in numb shock as his brain attempted to decipher the strange signals it was getting.
His detection and logical senses had kicked in then, causing him to take startled shelter in the relative safety of some nearby bushes. Relative being because he was still restless, and wanting to move.
So he'd directed his energy towards attempting to scientifically explain why he had claws, fangs -which he discovered were very sharp by accident when he bit his tongue with them-, protruding pointed fuzzy ears, a full body shave and gods above, a tail. There were a few other changes as well, the colours in his vision were muted, his lower face protruded a bit more, causing him to have to adjust his vision to having something larger in front of it. Hearing and sense of smell were better, probably to compensate, and he could pick up individual scents better.
A growl from his stomach had informed his that he was also hungry for a fire-kissed bloody steak. Not raw, just with enough blood to add a bit of flavour and texture to it.
Which was very particular.
And at the end of a few hours while he waited for the park to clear out and praying that no one saw him, there had been only one not-so logical explanation he could think of for his strange transformation, one that he was desperately trying not to think of. Because it was just a story, a fairy tale. Even if his last case before he had returned to Japan was a strange ripper case during a layover in Germany.
It was scientifically impossible to be a werewolf.
He was not even a good werewolf. He still looked human, just a bit fuzzier. And he certainly did not want to eat humans.
But the theory had persisted and he had just broken down and had been about to head home to search the internet for information about werewolves when he had received the second shock of the night in the form of a pony-tailed young man attempting to chop his head off with the business end of a very sharp katana.
That had been 5 hours, 43 minutes and 5 seconds ago.
He had not stopped running since. Every time he thought he had shaken the swordsman off his tail, so to speak, the swordsman would appear again. And while he did know the basics of fencing and was decent in Judo, he was lacking a weapon and really did not care for the thought of facing someone who knew how to use a sword barehanded. Especially when he was still uncertain about what exactly was going on with his body.
On the other hand, he probably should have felt very pleased with himself for having evaded him this long. He'd been remembering and using tricks the Kid used to evade the Nakamori and his men, and they had been working so far.
52 seconds ago, the sun had risen, brightening the area around him and leaving him with fewer shadows and hiding places to duck into.
He had distantly hoped that when the sun rose that it would counteract what ever affect the moon had triggered, but he had yet to feel any differently.
A remote part of him wondered if this was how the Kuroba felt during the chase. Terrified yet exhilarated. Of course, with the way Kuroba laughed, he probably felt more exhilarated than terrified. After all, the police did not carry around bladed weapons and try to kill them.
Speaking of which... he froze in the shadows of a dumpster, watching the shadow of his pursuer. "Damn." A muttered voice swore as the shadow checked something that was shoved into a pocket. "Gonna have to wait till nightfall again..." Footsteps retreated with a muttered comment about being late for school as his pursuer jogged off.
Hakuba sighed in relief, muscles un-tensing as he relaxed, idly noting his location as a few blocks from Edoka High. Almost 12 hours grace to think of a course of action.
Dammit, he was sore, tired, hungry and filthily and he wasn't used to being on this end of the chase. In fact, he had come to the sterling conclusion that he did not like being chased at all. He'd leave it to those who bloody well enjoyed it.
Now there was a thought.
He rested his head against the dumpster. Unfortunately, he did not think they would help him out.
Willingly anyway.
++++
It was a good thing that he had looked up the class schedules earlier that week, and had discovered that his... prey had morning duties today. Which was advantageous to him.
It felt rather odd to refer to someone as prey, but it was as apt as it was disturbing. He was quite literally hunting the other person.
Not that it was difficult. He knew their regular habits and travel routes. The fact that they were whistling in the early morning light as they walked along didn't hurt things either.
He knew better to think that this meant that they weren't aware.
A few shuffling footsteps, and he had the brunet's attention. A slight lean towards the alley to see what the noise was and he had him by the arm holding the book back. A turn of his wrist and that arm was twisted against their back, throwing them off balance. Something metallic pressed against his arm as he did so, and he attached the prepared sticky material to it.
The boy protested the treatment, his right arm coming up for an elbow jab, and he wrapped his fingers around the wrist, pulling that arm above their heads. The dark-haired boy struggled, a snarl that sounded much like a pissed off feline coming from his throat.
It was odd, Hakuba noted, to be able to hold on to Kuroba as easily as he would an irritated child. The only time he'd been able to actually get his hands on him as the Kid, it had been more of a scuffle than a fight, both of them trying to get to the sole gas mask. It wasn't that the other boy was weak, far from it, it was just that at the moment, he was that much stronger.
Kuroba broke him from his reverie by attempting to stomp on his foot. He tightened his grip, lifting Kuroba up a few centimetres and really throwing him off balance. It had been a good try though.
"It's the funniest thing." He was pleased to find his voice was calm, despite the rush of blood in his veins. "You smell -just- like the Kaitou Kid."
Or at least he was pretty sure he would, if or when he got around to checking...
"Hakuba?!" Kuroba's voice came out with a slight squeak and he could feel the pulse beat jump in his wrists. "What the HELL?!" The last word came out with yelp as the brunet's head turned to see the clawed hand that held his right arm.
"Let's play a game." He purred, his breath close enough to stir the hairs by Kuroba's ear. "You have until moonrise to get ready. You run. I chase. Just like old times."
"And if I don't want to play?" Kuroba growled back, anger seething in his tone.
He bit him. On the lower neck, where it joined with the shoulder, the bare patch that the collar revealed. Not hard enough to break the skin, or even draw blood, just enough to FEEL the sharpness of the teeth as they pricked the skin.
Kuroba hissed, becoming as tense as a unmoving board in his grasp and he could -smell- fear for the first time.
His stomach churned and he felt ill.
He licked the offended area as a silent apology, tasting Kuroba on his tongue, before his brain caught up to the rest of him. "Moonrise." He repeated, releasing Kuroba and quickly scrambling up a fire escape to the relative safety of the rooftop of a small building.
Once he reached the relative safety of the roof, he curled up in a little ball and simply shivered.
For the first time all night, he felt like a monster.
He stayed that way until the moon set, an hour later.
+++
Hakuba had meant to do research when he finally got home. Truly. There were many tests to run, things to look up.
However, his body had other ideas, the long night of running taking its toll as he fell asleep in the process of changing clothing.
He didn't wake up until didn't wake up until after the sun had gone down, the clock next to his bed proudly declaring it to be sometime around 6:30 and his mental clock declaring that it was too damn early. Approximately an hour before the moon rose, if last night was any indication. A quick dash into the shower and a raid into his father's closet for camouflage later and he was in a manner most unusual for his usual style.
A fish hat, denuded of fishing hooks hid his ears and hair, a fishing flannel tied around his waist covered the tail and a hooded sweatshirt took care of the rest of his bulk. It was grunge-like, but it worked.
He'd made a muttered prayer to luck as he'd dashed out the door, checking his cellphone as he began the hunt for Kuroba.
It had been commented several times before, when his classmates weren't aware of his listening in, that Kuroba had used to carry a card gun with him that he had used for pranks. But he'd stopped using it about the same time the Kid had made his appearance.
Kuroba continued to carry the bulky gun with him, the one thing he carried as both the Kid and Kuroba.
The same metallic object he had attached a tracer to in the alley. Luck was with him and the tracker still functioned, showing Kuroba on the other side of Tokyo in Beika.
He paused then, checking his watch. 15 minutes to moonrise.
He had told Kuroba he had until moonrise to run.
Hakuba turned around and got something to eat, forcing himself to eat at a sedate pace until the time was up.
+++
It was damn lucky that Kuroba still had the tracer on him, that's all Hakuba was saying.
Oh, he could track him by scent, as disturbing as that was, but it was difficult. Kuroba loved crowds. Closely packed crowds with jostling people that threatened to knock off his hat or hit his newly acquired tail. People took on a new horrifying aspect as he followed the grinning dark haired teen through the crowded shopping districts of Shinjuku.
After almost loosing him in Shinjuku, Kuroba caught the subway. Subways also took on a new horrifying aspect, the squealing noise of the rumbling subway, the swaying press of bodies, the humid scent of too many people jammed too close together. People were still leaving work and heading home even around 20:00. Fortunately the ride was short, Kuroba getting off at Nakano station.
Nakano station was smaller than Shinjuku and he allowed the flow of people to push him towards the north exit, the sidewalk being lit by the light of a wall of pink lanterns. The open space as followed Kuroba and most of the people towards the Nakano Sun Mall.
Once again, bodies pressed on him as he entered the main roofed corridor of the mall. Kuroba ignored the hawkers standing outside the stores, deftly weaving through the crowd as he looked up to admire the large paintings that hung from the ceiling. Hakuba had a slight bit more trouble with the crowd, lacking Kuroba finesse. The Sun Mall lead to the Nakano Broadway, with the inside decorated like it was outdoors, complete with the ceiling painted like it was the sky. Kuroba quickly ducked to the right, taking the escalator up to the third story. Hakuba took the escalator up as well, wondering why it lead to the third story and not the second.
Kuroba then ducked into a used manga store called 'Mandarake'. Hakuba sighed. Trust Kuroba to buy manga while he was being chased. A sign next to the door informed him that there were several different Mandarake stores spread throughout the Mall, all on various levels. He hoped Kuroba wasn't planning on dragging him through all of them. He peeked in the door and spotted Kuroba holding up a manga called 'He is Werewolf King' and sweatdropped.
A flash of blue caught his eye and he spotted the pony-tailed swordsman of last night. He ducked into the manga shop as well.
Things got hectic after that, his awareness narrowing down to where Kuroba was and where the swordsman was and making sure that he lost the swordsman without loosing Kuroba. Kuroba didn't make it easy, taking advantage of the various store's aisles, the Mall's twisting corridors, stairs and elevators to run around all four levels and the grocery store in the basement.
Just when he was getting sick of the enclosed feeling, Kuroba lead them outside, taking the back alleys to the subway station. To Hakuba's relief, it had cleared out somewhat, most people having gone home by now.
Kuroba decided it was a nice night for a joy ride. He took to subway hopping, going from one subway line to another, occasionally doubling back only to take a different line.
For one heart stopping moment, he got on a nearly empty train and looked back to realise that he was looking at the back of Kuroba, who was standing in the middle of the next car down. The train hit a rough patch, causing them to sway back and forth and he realised that Kuroba had been looking at the swordsman, in the car past him.
Kuroba was between him and the swordsman.
And he was grinning.
Hakuba took off the flannel, untied the sweatshirt from his waist and put it on, pulling the hood over his head. He tied the flannel around his waist and stashed the hat in a pocket. It was a meagre change of disguise, but hopefully it would be enough. He slouched in a seat, hands in his pockets until the train came to a stop, Kuroba getting off.
The slouch and change of clothing appeared to work, the swordsman looking around at the handful of people getting off the train before taking the other staircase down.
The fare was smaller than he'd expected, the looping and backtracking leaving them at a station not too far from where they had left. Kuroba took to the streets after that, leading him on a looping maze through the small streets of a quiet neighbourhood. With the quiet of the night and the few people, he found himself following his sense of smell here, falling back farther than he had been. The idea was to follow Kuroba to loose the swordsman, not draw the swordsman to Kuroba.
As he walked down a dark alleyway, he noted that this plan would work a hell of a lot better if he -could- follow Kuroba. The alley was a dead end, but there was no Kuroba hiding there. He could smell him and a quick glance at his tracker said the thief was there, but there was no sign of him.
Until a shadow fell across him and he looked -up-.
Kuroba stood at the edge of the rooftop, the lights casting him completely in shadow except for the perfect silver circle that rested over his right eye. The monocle caught the light, refracting it back as a twinkling devil's eye.
He didn't need his vision to know that Kuroba was smirking.
There was just enough time for a mental 'Oh SHIT' as Kuroba raised the card gun and he leapt to dodge the flying cards.
Which struck the cylindrical canisters of sleeping gas that lay scattered around the ground around him. The pinkish gas, much much more than normal, filled the alley and suffocating his senses.
His last thought before succumbing to the gas was to curse himself for being so foolish as to underestimate someone who was the Kaitou Kid.
+++
"This is not the mutt you're looking for."
Kuroba's mellow tones were the first things he was aware of as he woke up. Not that it was a pleasant waking up by a long shot.
For one thing, he couldn't move.
He was repeatedly tied to a chair, a gag in his mouth and handcuffs holding his wrists behind him.
It wasn't exactly the most comfortable position he ever been in.
An amused voice with a Kansai accent he didn't recognise answered back. "Your Jedi Mind Tricks won't work on me."
"It's not a Jedi Mind Trick." Kuroba responded calmly, if a bit smugly. "It's the truth."
The figure's tone turned questioning. "Yer defendin' him?"
"Eh, he's a pain in the ass, but hardly a killer." Kuroba shrugged. "Check the news, you'll find that the killer in the park you first met him has been caught."
This earned the thief an odd look, but the swordsman did as requested, pulling out his cellphone and punching a few numbers, holding the phone up to his ear and beginning a low murmured conversation. Hakuba noted that even with the swordsman's attention diverted, the katana did not drop.
Kuroba noticed he was awake and smirked playfully at him, patting Hakuba on the head as if he were a puppy.
Hakuba glared at him.
"WHAT?!" The swordsman's shout drew their attention back towards the boy. The katana finally wavered, pointing towards the ground. A few more words were spat into the phone, then the swordsman hung up with a muttered comment involving creative uses for heavy objects
"And-?" Kuroba asked cheekily.
"M'goin' ta strangle my Grandad." The swordsman announced, putting the cellphone away. "First he gets on my case 'bout learnin' the family youkai exterminating business, then -conveniently- fails ta pass on that you just happened ta be at the wrong place at the right time."
"No harm done." Kuroba assured him smoothly. "Mister-?"
"Okita." The katana was thankfully sheathed and hidden beneath the haori. "Okita Soushi. Look, I'm real sorry about this whole mess. If there's anythin' I can do fer ya in the future, just lemme know, but right now, I gotta go talk real loud at Grandad."
"Understandable." Kuroba waved him on, resting his arm on top of Hakuba's head. "Throw in a few choice words from us, will you?"
"Not a problem." Okita waved at them and disappeared back down the alley. "Ya both take care!"
"Same to you!" Kuroba waved cheerfully, not moving until Okita was well out of hearing range. Hakuba growled at him. The dark haired boy clucked his tongue at him and removed the gag.
Hakuba blinked as he moved his jaw around to get feeling back into it. "You gagged me with a rubber doggie chew toy?!"
"Well, if you're going to act like a dog..." Kuroba chided.
Hakuba glared, but his heart wasn't in it. Kuroba was right. He sighed, breaking off eye contact and looking off to one sighed. "... Sorry."
Kuroba made a soft amused sound in return. "I take it I don't need the rest then?"
"No." He shook his head. He'd only bit Kuroba to get his attention, not to cause any sort of damage. "That was... How did you figure things out?" A change in topic seemed like a very good idea.
"Well, for starters..." Kuroba knelt down behind him and he could feel the handcuffs being unlocked. "A blood-thirsty monster does not crawl to a rooftop and cry."
"I did not cry." Which was true. He'd just had a very good nervous breakdown.
"Fine, curl up in a little ball and shake." He didn't need to look to see Kuroba roll his eyes. "After you went home, I checked police reports and went from there. You're not nearly as subtle as you think you are."
"Good to know." He grumbled. Kuroba began to unwind several silver necklaces, attached to each other to form a single long chain, from around him. Under that were several lengths of chain and quite a bit of rope. The only thing he didn't see was duct tape, but he would lay odds on that being the primary substance attaching his ankles to the chair legs. "... was all this really necessary?" He questioned.
"Despite my comments to the contrary, I wasn't exactly sure how much of your right mind you are in." Kuroba admitted loftily. "You -did- bite me."
"I nipped you." He corrected. A thought struck him and Hakuba frowned. "You're not going to let that go, are you?"
"Not for a while." Kuroba sounded completely too cheerful about it, the silver chains disappearing as he began working on the locks of the various chains. "I'm thinking about carrying around a rolled up newspaper, just for protection."
Hakuba remembered there were reasons why Kuroba was normally counted as a rival, instead of a friend. "So back to the park..."
"So I went to the park and decided to call in a local trouble magnet I know." The magician's voice was fond, despite the insults. "It's rather disturbing how much trouble finds him, really. A few passes for free ice cream at a shop next to the park handed to his friends as they're leaving school, a few hours later, this rouge dog and the guy who's siccing him on the park to scare people away is caught and I'm no where around."
"You sound like you've done this before."
Kuroba nodded. "You'd think he'd catch on to the fact that his associates win far more than their fair share of free vacations, trips and dinners, but he never does..." The tone was lightly puzzled, but Hakuba wasn't sure if it was because of the subject or the fact that the magician was concentrating on opening an awkwardly placed lock with a few lock picks instead of the key.
He briefly wondered if Kuroba believed in keys.
"Your turn." Kuroba informed him, placing the lock in his lap before working on the next one. "Near as I can tell, you're part werewolf, right?"
Hakuba sighed, leaning his head back so the base of his skull touched the back of the chair. "Then you're farther ahead than I am. I'm afraid I've been rather distracted with avoiding sharp pointy objects from entering my body."
"So talk it out." Kuroba advised. "Detectives are great at that sort of thing. And you've probably got some idea how you got this way."
"I have one idea." He confessed. "But it's not very scientific."
The magician raised an eyebrow. Look at who he was talking to.
"Right. Ever read any of the European myths?"
"Goldielocks."
"Little less known than that." Several more locks were dropped in his lap and the chains began to loosen, giving him some breathing room. "There are several countries that believe that someone can become a werewolf by someone putting a spell on them. These wolves skulk around their former homes, scaring people, until someone recognizes it and turns them back."
"How?"
"I don't remember." He admitted. Something to do with inviting them back into their house... The other werewolf stories he'd heard usually involved the person doing it to himself, such as making pacts with the devil and wearing a wolf-skin belt or being bitten by another insane blood hungry werewolf. He certainly hadn't made any pacts with the devil, owned anything made of wolf-skin and didn't feel didn't feel the insatiable urge to go out and kill. He did feel a little shaky as he came down from the stress and adrenaline rush from the past day, however.
"If someone did curse you, they did a lousy job of it." Kuroba playfully flicked one pointed ear. "You're far from full wolf."
"That's what confuses me." Kuroba removed the rest of the chains in silence, then began unknotting the ropes as Hakuba thought. "There was that one strange ripper case during the stopover in Germany..."
"Yeah?" Kuroba prodded.
"The suspect died as he was being apprehended. Fell on his knife." The gypsy had died looking right at him, making this odd 'Haaaak...' wheezing sound as blood boiled up in his mouth. The dark angry eyes had disturbed him for days, like they were accusing Hakuba of catching him. Hakuba still didn't know why the man had done what he had.
"Dieing Curse?" Kuroba's accented English startled him as he realised that he'd been talking out loud. "A curse spoken with a dying breath is supposed to be more potent than normal, I would guess even if it's incomplete. Koizumi would know more."
"That's true." He admitted. Kuroba finished unbinding his legs and clapped him on the shoulder to let him know he could rise. Hakuba did so, stretching limbs that were protesting being bound. He was tired, a bit sore and hungry, but overall very grateful that the current problem was over with. He still had to deal with this being part wolf or whatever, but that didn't seem nearly as tragic has it had yesterday night. "I never did thank you for helping me..."
He trailed off as he realised that there was something around his neck. Something leather, from the feel of it, with metal pieces.
A dog collar.
... one he couldn't find the latch to undo.
But he could find a metallic tag with engraving hanging from it.
And he had a very bad feeling that he didn't want to know what it said.
"That." Kuroba smirked, crossing his arms in a very smug manner. "Is for not -asking- for my help in the first place."
-fin-
* We're twisting Okita Soushi from Yaiba for this one. Cannonly he's primarily becoming the best swordsman he can be because of his grandfather. ^^;; The Okita line being Youkai Exterminators is purely our own imagination and originally was a focus of the story.
* Rolled up newspapers can be used for puppy training. You whack the puppy on the nose when he's bad.
* The trouble magnet is Conan. Might as well take advantage of a bizarre habit of his, ne?
For lack of inspiration for a really spiffy chase scene, a great deal of the chase took place in the one location we've visited every single time I've gone to Japan.
The Nakano Sun Mall in Nakano-ku. With a 5 story Mandarake or used manga shop. XD Sorry if it's confusing, but the place really is a labyrinth.
One hint: When searching for doujinshi, do not walk into the hentai section and ask one of the guys where's the yaoi. Especially if you're female. #^^#
The type of werewolf Hakuba is isn't the kind from classic cinema. In Estonia, there's a type of werewolf called Vironsusi, in Finland they're Ihmissusi. These werewolves are created through a curse, or by doing something that would turn them into a wolf by accident. These wolves then lurk around their houses, sometimes eating cattle, until someone recognizes them.
The curse is broken when someone calls them by their Christian name, gives them some bread to eat or invites them into their house by their Christian name and gives them some bread to eat.
Sometimes the wolf tail remains with the cured person until they die.
The theory behind Hakuba's change was that the dieing curse took effect, even if it was incomplete. Since the curse was incomplete, therefore so was Hakuba's transformation, thus the waiting until the full moon to take effect.
http://www.werewolfpage.com/myths/global_legends.html
29 Sept 2004
Sun 6:46 a.m. 6:40 p.m.
Moon 7:29 p.m. 7:52 a.m.
timeline:
sun sets: 6:40pm
Moon rises: 7:29pm
Soushi: 1:03 am
sun rises: 6:46 am
ambushes Kaito: 6:53
Kaito needs to be at school: 7:00 am
Moon sets: 7:52am
class starts: 8:00 am
"Yeah, in a monsoon, I think tighty whities would be more fun than boxers."
"Yeah, it's like a wet tee-shirt contest for your pants."
Then it mutated. Several times. And no longer has nothing to do with the song. Go figure. ^^;;
There's a darker version of events in progress, tentatively called 'Shiro'.
+++ +++ +++ +++ +++
"Try to avoid nibbling on things today. Despite recent developments, you don't actually know your friend that well yet."
-humorscope.com
"What's next? Werewolves?" -Edogawa Conan "Dracula's Castle"
+++ Werewolf +++
It had been precisely 11 hours, 17 minutes and 14 seconds since Hakuba Saguru's life had been turned upside down.
That was when the moon rose.
He had been feeling restless all day, an unusual feeling for him, so he had decided to take a short stroll to burn off some of the extra energy before returning to his attempts to do his homework.
A short walk that had led him walking all the way from Ekoda to one of the parks outside of Beika. He had been slightly calmer outside, luxuriating on the feel of the wind brushing against his skin when he had caught sight of the first pale sliver of the moon peering over the horizon.
That was when the pain hit. He had doubled over, feeling like the contents of his stomach were attempting to crawl back out of his throat, bringing the lungs and most of the upper intestine with it. The sickly vertigo and nausea that accompanied it lasted only for mere moments, just long enough for the moon to finish clearing the horizon, before fading away to a more acceptable level.
And he found himself wondering how the heck his nails had grown so long. As well as the restless feeling returning, stronger than before. He wanted to move, to run and jump and roll around on the grass like a little kid. Anything but sit there in numb shock as his brain attempted to decipher the strange signals it was getting.
His detection and logical senses had kicked in then, causing him to take startled shelter in the relative safety of some nearby bushes. Relative being because he was still restless, and wanting to move.
So he'd directed his energy towards attempting to scientifically explain why he had claws, fangs -which he discovered were very sharp by accident when he bit his tongue with them-, protruding pointed fuzzy ears, a full body shave and gods above, a tail. There were a few other changes as well, the colours in his vision were muted, his lower face protruded a bit more, causing him to have to adjust his vision to having something larger in front of it. Hearing and sense of smell were better, probably to compensate, and he could pick up individual scents better.
A growl from his stomach had informed his that he was also hungry for a fire-kissed bloody steak. Not raw, just with enough blood to add a bit of flavour and texture to it.
Which was very particular.
And at the end of a few hours while he waited for the park to clear out and praying that no one saw him, there had been only one not-so logical explanation he could think of for his strange transformation, one that he was desperately trying not to think of. Because it was just a story, a fairy tale. Even if his last case before he had returned to Japan was a strange ripper case during a layover in Germany.
It was scientifically impossible to be a werewolf.
He was not even a good werewolf. He still looked human, just a bit fuzzier. And he certainly did not want to eat humans.
But the theory had persisted and he had just broken down and had been about to head home to search the internet for information about werewolves when he had received the second shock of the night in the form of a pony-tailed young man attempting to chop his head off with the business end of a very sharp katana.
That had been 5 hours, 43 minutes and 5 seconds ago.
He had not stopped running since. Every time he thought he had shaken the swordsman off his tail, so to speak, the swordsman would appear again. And while he did know the basics of fencing and was decent in Judo, he was lacking a weapon and really did not care for the thought of facing someone who knew how to use a sword barehanded. Especially when he was still uncertain about what exactly was going on with his body.
On the other hand, he probably should have felt very pleased with himself for having evaded him this long. He'd been remembering and using tricks the Kid used to evade the Nakamori and his men, and they had been working so far.
52 seconds ago, the sun had risen, brightening the area around him and leaving him with fewer shadows and hiding places to duck into.
He had distantly hoped that when the sun rose that it would counteract what ever affect the moon had triggered, but he had yet to feel any differently.
A remote part of him wondered if this was how the Kuroba felt during the chase. Terrified yet exhilarated. Of course, with the way Kuroba laughed, he probably felt more exhilarated than terrified. After all, the police did not carry around bladed weapons and try to kill them.
Speaking of which... he froze in the shadows of a dumpster, watching the shadow of his pursuer. "Damn." A muttered voice swore as the shadow checked something that was shoved into a pocket. "Gonna have to wait till nightfall again..." Footsteps retreated with a muttered comment about being late for school as his pursuer jogged off.
Hakuba sighed in relief, muscles un-tensing as he relaxed, idly noting his location as a few blocks from Edoka High. Almost 12 hours grace to think of a course of action.
Dammit, he was sore, tired, hungry and filthily and he wasn't used to being on this end of the chase. In fact, he had come to the sterling conclusion that he did not like being chased at all. He'd leave it to those who bloody well enjoyed it.
Now there was a thought.
He rested his head against the dumpster. Unfortunately, he did not think they would help him out.
Willingly anyway.
++++
It was a good thing that he had looked up the class schedules earlier that week, and had discovered that his... prey had morning duties today. Which was advantageous to him.
It felt rather odd to refer to someone as prey, but it was as apt as it was disturbing. He was quite literally hunting the other person.
Not that it was difficult. He knew their regular habits and travel routes. The fact that they were whistling in the early morning light as they walked along didn't hurt things either.
He knew better to think that this meant that they weren't aware.
A few shuffling footsteps, and he had the brunet's attention. A slight lean towards the alley to see what the noise was and he had him by the arm holding the book back. A turn of his wrist and that arm was twisted against their back, throwing them off balance. Something metallic pressed against his arm as he did so, and he attached the prepared sticky material to it.
The boy protested the treatment, his right arm coming up for an elbow jab, and he wrapped his fingers around the wrist, pulling that arm above their heads. The dark-haired boy struggled, a snarl that sounded much like a pissed off feline coming from his throat.
It was odd, Hakuba noted, to be able to hold on to Kuroba as easily as he would an irritated child. The only time he'd been able to actually get his hands on him as the Kid, it had been more of a scuffle than a fight, both of them trying to get to the sole gas mask. It wasn't that the other boy was weak, far from it, it was just that at the moment, he was that much stronger.
Kuroba broke him from his reverie by attempting to stomp on his foot. He tightened his grip, lifting Kuroba up a few centimetres and really throwing him off balance. It had been a good try though.
"It's the funniest thing." He was pleased to find his voice was calm, despite the rush of blood in his veins. "You smell -just- like the Kaitou Kid."
Or at least he was pretty sure he would, if or when he got around to checking...
"Hakuba?!" Kuroba's voice came out with a slight squeak and he could feel the pulse beat jump in his wrists. "What the HELL?!" The last word came out with yelp as the brunet's head turned to see the clawed hand that held his right arm.
"Let's play a game." He purred, his breath close enough to stir the hairs by Kuroba's ear. "You have until moonrise to get ready. You run. I chase. Just like old times."
"And if I don't want to play?" Kuroba growled back, anger seething in his tone.
He bit him. On the lower neck, where it joined with the shoulder, the bare patch that the collar revealed. Not hard enough to break the skin, or even draw blood, just enough to FEEL the sharpness of the teeth as they pricked the skin.
Kuroba hissed, becoming as tense as a unmoving board in his grasp and he could -smell- fear for the first time.
His stomach churned and he felt ill.
He licked the offended area as a silent apology, tasting Kuroba on his tongue, before his brain caught up to the rest of him. "Moonrise." He repeated, releasing Kuroba and quickly scrambling up a fire escape to the relative safety of the rooftop of a small building.
Once he reached the relative safety of the roof, he curled up in a little ball and simply shivered.
For the first time all night, he felt like a monster.
He stayed that way until the moon set, an hour later.
+++
Hakuba had meant to do research when he finally got home. Truly. There were many tests to run, things to look up.
However, his body had other ideas, the long night of running taking its toll as he fell asleep in the process of changing clothing.
He didn't wake up until didn't wake up until after the sun had gone down, the clock next to his bed proudly declaring it to be sometime around 6:30 and his mental clock declaring that it was too damn early. Approximately an hour before the moon rose, if last night was any indication. A quick dash into the shower and a raid into his father's closet for camouflage later and he was in a manner most unusual for his usual style.
A fish hat, denuded of fishing hooks hid his ears and hair, a fishing flannel tied around his waist covered the tail and a hooded sweatshirt took care of the rest of his bulk. It was grunge-like, but it worked.
He'd made a muttered prayer to luck as he'd dashed out the door, checking his cellphone as he began the hunt for Kuroba.
It had been commented several times before, when his classmates weren't aware of his listening in, that Kuroba had used to carry a card gun with him that he had used for pranks. But he'd stopped using it about the same time the Kid had made his appearance.
Kuroba continued to carry the bulky gun with him, the one thing he carried as both the Kid and Kuroba.
The same metallic object he had attached a tracer to in the alley. Luck was with him and the tracker still functioned, showing Kuroba on the other side of Tokyo in Beika.
He paused then, checking his watch. 15 minutes to moonrise.
He had told Kuroba he had until moonrise to run.
Hakuba turned around and got something to eat, forcing himself to eat at a sedate pace until the time was up.
+++
It was damn lucky that Kuroba still had the tracer on him, that's all Hakuba was saying.
Oh, he could track him by scent, as disturbing as that was, but it was difficult. Kuroba loved crowds. Closely packed crowds with jostling people that threatened to knock off his hat or hit his newly acquired tail. People took on a new horrifying aspect as he followed the grinning dark haired teen through the crowded shopping districts of Shinjuku.
After almost loosing him in Shinjuku, Kuroba caught the subway. Subways also took on a new horrifying aspect, the squealing noise of the rumbling subway, the swaying press of bodies, the humid scent of too many people jammed too close together. People were still leaving work and heading home even around 20:00. Fortunately the ride was short, Kuroba getting off at Nakano station.
Nakano station was smaller than Shinjuku and he allowed the flow of people to push him towards the north exit, the sidewalk being lit by the light of a wall of pink lanterns. The open space as followed Kuroba and most of the people towards the Nakano Sun Mall.
Once again, bodies pressed on him as he entered the main roofed corridor of the mall. Kuroba ignored the hawkers standing outside the stores, deftly weaving through the crowd as he looked up to admire the large paintings that hung from the ceiling. Hakuba had a slight bit more trouble with the crowd, lacking Kuroba finesse. The Sun Mall lead to the Nakano Broadway, with the inside decorated like it was outdoors, complete with the ceiling painted like it was the sky. Kuroba quickly ducked to the right, taking the escalator up to the third story. Hakuba took the escalator up as well, wondering why it lead to the third story and not the second.
Kuroba then ducked into a used manga store called 'Mandarake'. Hakuba sighed. Trust Kuroba to buy manga while he was being chased. A sign next to the door informed him that there were several different Mandarake stores spread throughout the Mall, all on various levels. He hoped Kuroba wasn't planning on dragging him through all of them. He peeked in the door and spotted Kuroba holding up a manga called 'He is Werewolf King' and sweatdropped.
A flash of blue caught his eye and he spotted the pony-tailed swordsman of last night. He ducked into the manga shop as well.
Things got hectic after that, his awareness narrowing down to where Kuroba was and where the swordsman was and making sure that he lost the swordsman without loosing Kuroba. Kuroba didn't make it easy, taking advantage of the various store's aisles, the Mall's twisting corridors, stairs and elevators to run around all four levels and the grocery store in the basement.
Just when he was getting sick of the enclosed feeling, Kuroba lead them outside, taking the back alleys to the subway station. To Hakuba's relief, it had cleared out somewhat, most people having gone home by now.
Kuroba decided it was a nice night for a joy ride. He took to subway hopping, going from one subway line to another, occasionally doubling back only to take a different line.
For one heart stopping moment, he got on a nearly empty train and looked back to realise that he was looking at the back of Kuroba, who was standing in the middle of the next car down. The train hit a rough patch, causing them to sway back and forth and he realised that Kuroba had been looking at the swordsman, in the car past him.
Kuroba was between him and the swordsman.
And he was grinning.
Hakuba took off the flannel, untied the sweatshirt from his waist and put it on, pulling the hood over his head. He tied the flannel around his waist and stashed the hat in a pocket. It was a meagre change of disguise, but hopefully it would be enough. He slouched in a seat, hands in his pockets until the train came to a stop, Kuroba getting off.
The slouch and change of clothing appeared to work, the swordsman looking around at the handful of people getting off the train before taking the other staircase down.
The fare was smaller than he'd expected, the looping and backtracking leaving them at a station not too far from where they had left. Kuroba took to the streets after that, leading him on a looping maze through the small streets of a quiet neighbourhood. With the quiet of the night and the few people, he found himself following his sense of smell here, falling back farther than he had been. The idea was to follow Kuroba to loose the swordsman, not draw the swordsman to Kuroba.
As he walked down a dark alleyway, he noted that this plan would work a hell of a lot better if he -could- follow Kuroba. The alley was a dead end, but there was no Kuroba hiding there. He could smell him and a quick glance at his tracker said the thief was there, but there was no sign of him.
Until a shadow fell across him and he looked -up-.
Kuroba stood at the edge of the rooftop, the lights casting him completely in shadow except for the perfect silver circle that rested over his right eye. The monocle caught the light, refracting it back as a twinkling devil's eye.
He didn't need his vision to know that Kuroba was smirking.
There was just enough time for a mental 'Oh SHIT' as Kuroba raised the card gun and he leapt to dodge the flying cards.
Which struck the cylindrical canisters of sleeping gas that lay scattered around the ground around him. The pinkish gas, much much more than normal, filled the alley and suffocating his senses.
His last thought before succumbing to the gas was to curse himself for being so foolish as to underestimate someone who was the Kaitou Kid.
+++
"This is not the mutt you're looking for."
Kuroba's mellow tones were the first things he was aware of as he woke up. Not that it was a pleasant waking up by a long shot.
For one thing, he couldn't move.
He was repeatedly tied to a chair, a gag in his mouth and handcuffs holding his wrists behind him.
It wasn't exactly the most comfortable position he ever been in.
An amused voice with a Kansai accent he didn't recognise answered back. "Your Jedi Mind Tricks won't work on me."
"It's not a Jedi Mind Trick." Kuroba responded calmly, if a bit smugly. "It's the truth."
The figure's tone turned questioning. "Yer defendin' him?"
"Eh, he's a pain in the ass, but hardly a killer." Kuroba shrugged. "Check the news, you'll find that the killer in the park you first met him has been caught."
This earned the thief an odd look, but the swordsman did as requested, pulling out his cellphone and punching a few numbers, holding the phone up to his ear and beginning a low murmured conversation. Hakuba noted that even with the swordsman's attention diverted, the katana did not drop.
Kuroba noticed he was awake and smirked playfully at him, patting Hakuba on the head as if he were a puppy.
Hakuba glared at him.
"WHAT?!" The swordsman's shout drew their attention back towards the boy. The katana finally wavered, pointing towards the ground. A few more words were spat into the phone, then the swordsman hung up with a muttered comment involving creative uses for heavy objects
"And-?" Kuroba asked cheekily.
"M'goin' ta strangle my Grandad." The swordsman announced, putting the cellphone away. "First he gets on my case 'bout learnin' the family youkai exterminating business, then -conveniently- fails ta pass on that you just happened ta be at the wrong place at the right time."
"No harm done." Kuroba assured him smoothly. "Mister-?"
"Okita." The katana was thankfully sheathed and hidden beneath the haori. "Okita Soushi. Look, I'm real sorry about this whole mess. If there's anythin' I can do fer ya in the future, just lemme know, but right now, I gotta go talk real loud at Grandad."
"Understandable." Kuroba waved him on, resting his arm on top of Hakuba's head. "Throw in a few choice words from us, will you?"
"Not a problem." Okita waved at them and disappeared back down the alley. "Ya both take care!"
"Same to you!" Kuroba waved cheerfully, not moving until Okita was well out of hearing range. Hakuba growled at him. The dark haired boy clucked his tongue at him and removed the gag.
Hakuba blinked as he moved his jaw around to get feeling back into it. "You gagged me with a rubber doggie chew toy?!"
"Well, if you're going to act like a dog..." Kuroba chided.
Hakuba glared, but his heart wasn't in it. Kuroba was right. He sighed, breaking off eye contact and looking off to one sighed. "... Sorry."
Kuroba made a soft amused sound in return. "I take it I don't need the rest then?"
"No." He shook his head. He'd only bit Kuroba to get his attention, not to cause any sort of damage. "That was... How did you figure things out?" A change in topic seemed like a very good idea.
"Well, for starters..." Kuroba knelt down behind him and he could feel the handcuffs being unlocked. "A blood-thirsty monster does not crawl to a rooftop and cry."
"I did not cry." Which was true. He'd just had a very good nervous breakdown.
"Fine, curl up in a little ball and shake." He didn't need to look to see Kuroba roll his eyes. "After you went home, I checked police reports and went from there. You're not nearly as subtle as you think you are."
"Good to know." He grumbled. Kuroba began to unwind several silver necklaces, attached to each other to form a single long chain, from around him. Under that were several lengths of chain and quite a bit of rope. The only thing he didn't see was duct tape, but he would lay odds on that being the primary substance attaching his ankles to the chair legs. "... was all this really necessary?" He questioned.
"Despite my comments to the contrary, I wasn't exactly sure how much of your right mind you are in." Kuroba admitted loftily. "You -did- bite me."
"I nipped you." He corrected. A thought struck him and Hakuba frowned. "You're not going to let that go, are you?"
"Not for a while." Kuroba sounded completely too cheerful about it, the silver chains disappearing as he began working on the locks of the various chains. "I'm thinking about carrying around a rolled up newspaper, just for protection."
Hakuba remembered there were reasons why Kuroba was normally counted as a rival, instead of a friend. "So back to the park..."
"So I went to the park and decided to call in a local trouble magnet I know." The magician's voice was fond, despite the insults. "It's rather disturbing how much trouble finds him, really. A few passes for free ice cream at a shop next to the park handed to his friends as they're leaving school, a few hours later, this rouge dog and the guy who's siccing him on the park to scare people away is caught and I'm no where around."
"You sound like you've done this before."
Kuroba nodded. "You'd think he'd catch on to the fact that his associates win far more than their fair share of free vacations, trips and dinners, but he never does..." The tone was lightly puzzled, but Hakuba wasn't sure if it was because of the subject or the fact that the magician was concentrating on opening an awkwardly placed lock with a few lock picks instead of the key.
He briefly wondered if Kuroba believed in keys.
"Your turn." Kuroba informed him, placing the lock in his lap before working on the next one. "Near as I can tell, you're part werewolf, right?"
Hakuba sighed, leaning his head back so the base of his skull touched the back of the chair. "Then you're farther ahead than I am. I'm afraid I've been rather distracted with avoiding sharp pointy objects from entering my body."
"So talk it out." Kuroba advised. "Detectives are great at that sort of thing. And you've probably got some idea how you got this way."
"I have one idea." He confessed. "But it's not very scientific."
The magician raised an eyebrow. Look at who he was talking to.
"Right. Ever read any of the European myths?"
"Goldielocks."
"Little less known than that." Several more locks were dropped in his lap and the chains began to loosen, giving him some breathing room. "There are several countries that believe that someone can become a werewolf by someone putting a spell on them. These wolves skulk around their former homes, scaring people, until someone recognizes it and turns them back."
"How?"
"I don't remember." He admitted. Something to do with inviting them back into their house... The other werewolf stories he'd heard usually involved the person doing it to himself, such as making pacts with the devil and wearing a wolf-skin belt or being bitten by another insane blood hungry werewolf. He certainly hadn't made any pacts with the devil, owned anything made of wolf-skin and didn't feel didn't feel the insatiable urge to go out and kill. He did feel a little shaky as he came down from the stress and adrenaline rush from the past day, however.
"If someone did curse you, they did a lousy job of it." Kuroba playfully flicked one pointed ear. "You're far from full wolf."
"That's what confuses me." Kuroba removed the rest of the chains in silence, then began unknotting the ropes as Hakuba thought. "There was that one strange ripper case during the stopover in Germany..."
"Yeah?" Kuroba prodded.
"The suspect died as he was being apprehended. Fell on his knife." The gypsy had died looking right at him, making this odd 'Haaaak...' wheezing sound as blood boiled up in his mouth. The dark angry eyes had disturbed him for days, like they were accusing Hakuba of catching him. Hakuba still didn't know why the man had done what he had.
"Dieing Curse?" Kuroba's accented English startled him as he realised that he'd been talking out loud. "A curse spoken with a dying breath is supposed to be more potent than normal, I would guess even if it's incomplete. Koizumi would know more."
"That's true." He admitted. Kuroba finished unbinding his legs and clapped him on the shoulder to let him know he could rise. Hakuba did so, stretching limbs that were protesting being bound. He was tired, a bit sore and hungry, but overall very grateful that the current problem was over with. He still had to deal with this being part wolf or whatever, but that didn't seem nearly as tragic has it had yesterday night. "I never did thank you for helping me..."
He trailed off as he realised that there was something around his neck. Something leather, from the feel of it, with metal pieces.
A dog collar.
... one he couldn't find the latch to undo.
But he could find a metallic tag with engraving hanging from it.
And he had a very bad feeling that he didn't want to know what it said.
"That." Kuroba smirked, crossing his arms in a very smug manner. "Is for not -asking- for my help in the first place."
-fin-
* We're twisting Okita Soushi from Yaiba for this one. Cannonly he's primarily becoming the best swordsman he can be because of his grandfather. ^^;; The Okita line being Youkai Exterminators is purely our own imagination and originally was a focus of the story.
* Rolled up newspapers can be used for puppy training. You whack the puppy on the nose when he's bad.
* The trouble magnet is Conan. Might as well take advantage of a bizarre habit of his, ne?
For lack of inspiration for a really spiffy chase scene, a great deal of the chase took place in the one location we've visited every single time I've gone to Japan.
The Nakano Sun Mall in Nakano-ku. With a 5 story Mandarake or used manga shop. XD Sorry if it's confusing, but the place really is a labyrinth.
One hint: When searching for doujinshi, do not walk into the hentai section and ask one of the guys where's the yaoi. Especially if you're female. #^^#
The type of werewolf Hakuba is isn't the kind from classic cinema. In Estonia, there's a type of werewolf called Vironsusi, in Finland they're Ihmissusi. These werewolves are created through a curse, or by doing something that would turn them into a wolf by accident. These wolves then lurk around their houses, sometimes eating cattle, until someone recognizes them.
The curse is broken when someone calls them by their Christian name, gives them some bread to eat or invites them into their house by their Christian name and gives them some bread to eat.
Sometimes the wolf tail remains with the cured person until they die.
The theory behind Hakuba's change was that the dieing curse took effect, even if it was incomplete. Since the curse was incomplete, therefore so was Hakuba's transformation, thus the waiting until the full moon to take effect.
http://www.werewolfpage.com/myths/global_legends.html
29 Sept 2004
Sun 6:46 a.m. 6:40 p.m.
Moon 7:29 p.m. 7:52 a.m.
timeline:
sun sets: 6:40pm
Moon rises: 7:29pm
Soushi: 1:03 am
sun rises: 6:46 am
ambushes Kaito: 6:53
Kaito needs to be at school: 7:00 am
Moon sets: 7:52am
class starts: 8:00 am
"Yeah, in a monsoon, I think tighty whities would be more fun than boxers."
"Yeah, it's like a wet tee-shirt contest for your pants."
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
GAH
Date: 2004-09-01 10:47 pm (UTC)Squee! I adore Hakuba's logic - don't like being chased, so find someone who Does get a kick out of it. *snickers* And that has sooo many layers of possibilities...
*blinks and grins*
What, pray tell, does the collar say? *laughs*
I Like this scenario.
Re: GAH
Date: 2004-09-03 03:31 pm (UTC)I have no clue what the collar is saying. ^^;; It just seems like a very Kaito-ish thing to do. #^^#
But I'm glad you like it. ^____^ ((GLOMPS!))
Query: Have an introduction from Okita's POV. Do you think that would make it an easier to read? Like doing it as a prolouge?
Re: GAH
Date: 2004-09-03 05:57 pm (UTC)*grins* i liked the random feel... but maybe a snippet somewhere ...
Re: HAH
Date: 2004-09-04 03:55 pm (UTC)In few days when we have net access again, will try to remember to bring that snippet with me on a floppy.
-there's a reason why I save all our cut scenes in a giant file. ^____________^
no subject
Date: 2004-09-02 02:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-03 03:33 pm (UTC)Instead of heading towards the park, Hakuba took a walk in a different direction, resulting a different culmination of the curse. ^^;;
... would that count as a Sequal?
I'd like to know what's on the dog tags too! XD
no subject
Date: 2004-09-05 09:04 pm (UTC)^_^; sorry.