[fanfic] AU: Shiro
Sep. 20th, 2004 08:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ickaimpIt might help if you've read 'Werewolf' before you read this. It's an AU to an AU. o_O Yeah, go figure.
Basically, what if Hakuba had gone into the Forest instead of the Park.
+++
Shiro
(an alternate universe to the 'Werewolf' alternate universe)
By Icka! M. Chif
"I have come for advice."
"That is easily got."
"And help."
"That is not always so easy."
-Sherlock Holmes, Adventure V.
It began the night before the day Hakuba showed up to school with white hair.
Not the pale corn silk yellow of hair that has been recently bleached, or the fine silvery grey strands of old age. But pure white hair, the colour of newly fallen snow.
With his already pale colouring and amber eyes, the striking colouring was the cause for most of the talk that day. Especially since Hakuba himself wouldn't talk about it. Or much of anything, really.
Most people said he had seen a ghost. He certainly looked like one.
It wasn't until the next day, when the talk started to wear down a bit that Kuroba's disappearance was noticed. Thus the rumour mill started up again.
On the third day, Aoko brought word that Kuroba was in the hospital. He'd been attacked by something.
Something large. Something not human. Something that was recognizable as any known animal either.
It didn't take long for talk to link the two together.
Talk said that Hakuba had seen what had attacked Kuroba and it had scared him so badly that it turned his hair white. Old myths and fairy tales were recounted of people's hair turning white after contact with the supernatural.
Hakuba said nothing.
Two weeks after the night before Hakuba showed up to school with white hair, Kuroba made his appearance at school. Kuroba was his normal boisterous loud self, mayhap a little tired and slower with the bandages. He talked, did magic tricks and pointedly did not look at Hakuba.
Hakuba watched with haunted eyes and continued to say nothing.
Talk noticed. Talk noticed everything.
+++
"I-"
"Stay away from me. I don't know who you are, you don't know me."
+++
Twenty-seven days after the night before Hakuba showed up to school with white hair, it snowed.
Two days after that, rumours flew around both the town and the school, of a giant beast that roamed the forested areas of the town. Footprints were found in the snow, larger than a man's fist.
That was all that the evidence that could be found of what ever stalked the woods. No one had actually seen it.
People were alarmed, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing suspicious happened the night after the footprints were found, nor the night after that.
Talk faded, but persisted in the background.
Hakuba began to grow out his hair, still white, tying it with a black cord into a ponytail at the base of his neck.
He wouldn't say why.
Penance, talk called it.
+++
"So-"
"I don't care. Just keep away from me."
"... I -am- so very sorry."
+++
Despite the fact that evidence of the giant beast was sketchy and rare at best, people began to watch for it, a few people eventually seeing more than just an illusive shadow.
A humongous white canine.
Some talk said that it was an escaped akita, only akita didn't grow that large.
Others said that it was a wolf, only to be mocked as having read too many horror novels.
But what ever it was, it was never seen in daylight, only at night.
Silver jewellery became very popular. And if fewer people walked alone at night, well, it just wasn't commented on. Neither was the sudden drop in even the most petty of crimes done late at night.
A year passed this way. The white dog stayed illusive, never more than glimpsed, talked about in hushed whispers. The school year came to a close, former high school students moving on to bigger and better things. Some stayed in the area, others moved to colleges away from the city.
Kuroba and Hakuba moved out of Ekoda.
The white wolf-dog moved with them.
+++
"I told you to leave me alone."
+++
Seven hundred and fifty eight days after the night before Hakuba showed up to school with white hair, and young man holding an umbrella looked down at a white animal huddled next to an apartment building.
"It's been two years." He commented, the non-umbrella hand shift it's grip on the plastic bag of groceries he carried. The wind blew bitterly cold rain with bits of slush around them, soaking the area. It was going to be a bad night. "And you're still following me, Shiro."
Gold eyes glanced up at him, then glanced away, ears drooping in a slightly guiltily manner.
The speaker sighed. "This is ridiculous."
The dog didn't contradict him. It just lay there, looking as miserable as a damp dog in a back alley can.
The umbrella holder sighed again. "Alright, enough. Come on, up with you. In you go." The wolf looked at him inquiringly. "I mean it. Up. Let's go."
With a tired huff, the large canine got to its feet and looked up at the man inquiringly, as if it say 'okay, so now what?'. In response, the teen turned and walked to the stairs of the apartment and began to climb. The dog paused to give itself a good shake, spraying water all over the formerly dry areas of the sidewalk before following him up several flights of stairs.
Only to pause beside the open door. "In." The man ordered. The wolf whined. "Hakuba Saguru, will you get inside this house before I kick your butt?"
With a half-hearted shake, the wolf trotted inside, Kuroba shutting the door behind them. The magician grumbled to himself, putting the umbrella in the stand to drip dry, shedding his coat and carrying the bag of groceries he'd been carrying into the small kitchen area, setting down the bag of groceries he'd been carrying. Still muttering, he took out this evening's dinner, tossing a melon bread at the wolf. "I won't eat alone."
The wolf caught it in mid-air, taking it over to a corner to eat. Kuroba quickly ate his meal, casting dark looks at the canine the entire time. The wolf, having finished off the bread, curled up and simply watched the magician with his head on his paws.
Kuroba sighed, cleaned up supper and pulled his futon out of the closet, setting it up on the floor before changing his clothes and finishing his evening abulations. One in his night attire, he turned to look at the wolf, who hadn't moved from the corner he'd eaten in. "Well?" Kuroba demanded. "What do you want?"
The wolf sighed, got to his feet and padded over to the futon. With a final glance up at Kuroba, he plopped himself down next to the padded fabric, curled up with his head resting on the material like a pillow, closed his eyes and proceeded to snore.
The magician stared for a moment, before shaking his head and crawling under the thick warm quilt. "If you kill me in my sleep, I'm going to do despicable things to you in the after life."
The wolf sneezed.
+++
"I can't."
+++
The morning of the seven hundred and fifty nine day after the night before Hakuba showed up to school with white hair, Kuroba woke up next to a naked man. Rather startled by this uncommon occurrence, he squeaked in alarm.
The noise woke up the naked man, who made his own squeak of alarm and promptly grabbed the quilt to hide his lower half.
Which then meant that Kuroba had a naked man under the covers with him. "Hakuba!"
"It's cold!" Hakuba protested, shivering. Kuroba noticed that he could almost see his breath and had to agree with him, but still...
He flipped the rest of the quilt over white haired man, covering Hakuba in it's folds as he half-scrabbled backwards. "Thanks." Pale hands wrapped the material closer around him, like a cloak.
"Why aren't you covered in fur?" Kuroba questioned, curling up, "Or are you only a dog when the sun isn't up?"
"Wolf." Hakuba corrected, a hand coming out of the folds of fabric and flexing. He stared at it, as if willing it to change shape. It didn't. "I think.... I think..."
"What?"
"It takes a lot of concentration and effort to say human." The white haired man was obviously confused. "I'm not changing back." Wide gold eyes stared at the dark haired boy in shock, surprise and not a little hope. "I'm not!"
"Congratulations." Kuroba's tone was dry. "Maybe you can explain it to me."
The buoyed expression instantly faded into a sombre abashed one. "Right. My apologies." Hakuba shifted, curling into a ball as the hand disappeared back into the folds of the quilt, the fabric tightening around him like protective armour. "From the beginning then?"
"If you could."
"Certainly. From the beginning." Eyes closed as he took a deep breath and let it out. "Two years ago, there was a stop over in Germany on the flight from London to Narita. There was a ripper case going on. I caught the murder, but he... killed himself on his weapon. Died. Staring at me... his lips were moving, like he was saying something."
He trailed off, eyes pinched shut in remembered horror. Kuroba waited a moment before prompting him. "And?"
"And... Ever heard of cursing someone with their dying breath?" Hakuba shrugged, shifting the quilt. "It's the only thing I can think of. Unscientific, of course, but none of this is scientific to begin with. And not unheard of in that region of the world. Several weeks afterwards, the full moon, I felt strange. Buzzed. So I went for a walk. I was going to go to the park, but..."
"Went into the forest instead." Kuroba finished.
"Yes. Where I ran into you." Pain filled eyes opened, looking at him. "I -am- sorry."
Kuroba waved it off. "Just finish the story." He was tired of this, tired of this business, tired of wondering. He wanted it over.
"Of course." Hakuba took another deep breath and let it out. "It... hurts, the transformation. I didn't know what it was, just that I wanted it to stop. I thought I was dieing. Then you were there... you were familiar, I reached for you... I just wanted the pain to stop... then..." He trailed off, visibly shivering, curling into a tighter ball.
"The next thing I remember is the blood. It was everywhere. On the ground, on you, covering my hands... My hands weren't even human anymore. You were sprawled on the ground; your eyes still open, huge and glassy. I thought you were dead. I think... that's when my hair went white. Screamed... then its all a blur again."
"You grabbed me." Kuroba said dully, finding the pattern of the futon suddenly interesting. He swallowed, then reached up and pulled the warm sweatshirt he'd worn to bed over his head. Lines of old scars, across his upper arms and torso marked the skin that was goose pimpled by the cold. The ones on the upper arms looked like they could have been made by human hands, furrows marking where the fingers and thumb would have rested.
The scars on the torso, running along his sides and ribs, looked like he'd been mauled by an animal.
"You looked human when you first grabbed me." Kuroba said, placing a hand on one set of scars on his upper arm, fingers covering the damaged flesh. "I thought you needed help or something. Then... you started to change. You wouldn't let go. The more I fought, the tighter you held. I -did- manage break your grasp, but then you wrapped yourself around me, screaming..." The hand moved, shifting to his ribs, along another set of scars. "Like a bear hug. You just held on, but your hands..."
"Became claws." Hakuba finished the sentence, voice low and hoarse.
"Your arms changed too, when your grip slipped, you'd grab me again." The hand slid down to another set of scars, less human than the first. His fingers slid past another set, and another, each set of marks more animalistic than the previous. A roadmap of events. "Eventually screaming stopped and you let go. You just... looked at me, wild. Then you started screaming again, but you held onto yourself this time. Think that's when I passed out."
"I think so too." The white haired man seconded. Kuroba looked at him for a moment, then nodded, pulling his sweatshirt back on. Hakuba pointedly looked away until the magician was clothed again.
"My memory's hazy for the rest of the night." Hakuba continued once Kuroba was covered again. "I remember people, and flashing lights, strong urge to stay hidden. So I did. It wasn't until the sun rose that my memory returned. It took me hours before I figured out how to be human again. I thought it was a bad dream, but when I got to school, you weren't there..."
"I woke up in the hospital." Kuroba's voice was bitterly ironic. "Couldn't tell them what happened. Thought I was insane. People don't just suddenly change into animals."
"That's what I thought too. Until the sun went down and I couldn't say human any more..." Hakuba swallowed. "It's different, being a wolf. Everything is suddenly... simpler. Things have different relevance. Schoolwork isn't nearly important, humans are to be avoided, cars are scary, things like that."
"Is that why you started stalking me at night?"
A shrug. "It's... hard to put into words. Like instinct. I knew you. I hurt you. Didn't mean to. Wanted... wanted to know you were alright, at first. Then... just kept watch, I guess. Protect. Couldn't stop. Scared other people sometimes, made sure they didn't hurt other people. Kid heists were the worst, waiting for you to come back, knowing the risks were higher and couldn't do anything..." Hakuba sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Like I said, it's hard to put into words."
"Thought you were stalking me to finish me off." Kuroba muttered. "Following me around at night. Got tired of it after a while." He chuckled half-heartedly. "S'why I invited you in. Figured just end the waiting."
"Actually... I think that's what may have done it." Hakuba let out a half-hearted chuckle. "Did research on, well, lycanthropy. I guess the curse didn't take fully, or I wouldn't have been human during the day. But one way to end the curse on a werewolf who's been changed by a curse or an accident is to call them or invite them into the house by their Christian name and give them a piece of bread to eat."
Kuroba gave him a wide-eyed stare. "Shit."
That's exactly what he had done the night before without thinking about it.
"Exactly."
"You mean... this whole thing could have -ended- long ago just by INVITING YOU IN FOR A FUCKING PIECE OF BREAD!?" Kuroba demanded.
The chuckle grew deeper, filled with a variety of emotions from giddy relief to pent-up terror. "Looks like." He attempted to muffle the noise as the chuckle turned into helpless laughter, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.
Kuroba glared, taking a moment to reach across the futon to grab the pillow and tossing it at the other man. Hakuba rocked with the impact as the pillow hit him, but the laughter continued unabated. Kuroba continued to glare for a moment before shaking his head, chuckling himself.
"So it's over, right?" He finally asked when the laughter died down to a less panic-filled level. "No more wolf?"
"I think it's safe enough to say so." Hakuba scrubbed his face with his hands, weariness creeping in. "Just loan me some clothing and I'll get out of your life."
"Deal." Kuroba rose and stretched. "They might be a bit small on you though, you're taller than me."
"I'll make do." Hakuba rose as well, tiredly fumbling with the quilt and accidentally dropping part of it, exposing half his body to the cool air. He yelped and quickly grabbed the quilt again, wrapping it around himself.
Kuroba's eyebrows reached his hairline. "Or not."
"Huh?" The white haired man looked at him in incomprehension. Kuroba smirked, walking over and tugging at the fabric until the pale back was exposed.
Long white hair hung past broad shoulders, stopping mid back as the torso continued, tapering into a narrow waist at the small of Hakuba's back. Below the small of his back, the white hair continued again, in the form of a long tail, the same that he had worn as a wolf.
Hakuba stared at the tail in shock. The tail wagged slightly in return, as if saying hello.
"Well, shit..."
-fin-
Shiro = White. Same kanji as Haku, which also means white. (isn't the dog in Masion Ikkou also named 'Shiro'?)
Sorry, tried talking Hakuba out of cussing at the end, but he was adamant.
Same back history and curse as in 'Werewolf', only in this case, the shock of thinking he had killed Kuroba not only bleached his hair white but pushed him all the way into wolf form. Once again, the curse was incomplete, which is why he could return to human form through effort.
Orginally read about someone's hair turning white with shock in a Chinese fairey tale when I was a child and it just kinda popped up here. ^^;;
Basically, what if Hakuba had gone into the Forest instead of the Park.
+++
Shiro
(an alternate universe to the 'Werewolf' alternate universe)
By Icka! M. Chif
"I have come for advice."
"That is easily got."
"And help."
"That is not always so easy."
-Sherlock Holmes, Adventure V.
It began the night before the day Hakuba showed up to school with white hair.
Not the pale corn silk yellow of hair that has been recently bleached, or the fine silvery grey strands of old age. But pure white hair, the colour of newly fallen snow.
With his already pale colouring and amber eyes, the striking colouring was the cause for most of the talk that day. Especially since Hakuba himself wouldn't talk about it. Or much of anything, really.
Most people said he had seen a ghost. He certainly looked like one.
It wasn't until the next day, when the talk started to wear down a bit that Kuroba's disappearance was noticed. Thus the rumour mill started up again.
On the third day, Aoko brought word that Kuroba was in the hospital. He'd been attacked by something.
Something large. Something not human. Something that was recognizable as any known animal either.
It didn't take long for talk to link the two together.
Talk said that Hakuba had seen what had attacked Kuroba and it had scared him so badly that it turned his hair white. Old myths and fairy tales were recounted of people's hair turning white after contact with the supernatural.
Hakuba said nothing.
Two weeks after the night before Hakuba showed up to school with white hair, Kuroba made his appearance at school. Kuroba was his normal boisterous loud self, mayhap a little tired and slower with the bandages. He talked, did magic tricks and pointedly did not look at Hakuba.
Hakuba watched with haunted eyes and continued to say nothing.
Talk noticed. Talk noticed everything.
+++
"I-"
"Stay away from me. I don't know who you are, you don't know me."
+++
Twenty-seven days after the night before Hakuba showed up to school with white hair, it snowed.
Two days after that, rumours flew around both the town and the school, of a giant beast that roamed the forested areas of the town. Footprints were found in the snow, larger than a man's fist.
That was all that the evidence that could be found of what ever stalked the woods. No one had actually seen it.
People were alarmed, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing suspicious happened the night after the footprints were found, nor the night after that.
Talk faded, but persisted in the background.
Hakuba began to grow out his hair, still white, tying it with a black cord into a ponytail at the base of his neck.
He wouldn't say why.
Penance, talk called it.
+++
"So-"
"I don't care. Just keep away from me."
"... I -am- so very sorry."
+++
Despite the fact that evidence of the giant beast was sketchy and rare at best, people began to watch for it, a few people eventually seeing more than just an illusive shadow.
A humongous white canine.
Some talk said that it was an escaped akita, only akita didn't grow that large.
Others said that it was a wolf, only to be mocked as having read too many horror novels.
But what ever it was, it was never seen in daylight, only at night.
Silver jewellery became very popular. And if fewer people walked alone at night, well, it just wasn't commented on. Neither was the sudden drop in even the most petty of crimes done late at night.
A year passed this way. The white dog stayed illusive, never more than glimpsed, talked about in hushed whispers. The school year came to a close, former high school students moving on to bigger and better things. Some stayed in the area, others moved to colleges away from the city.
Kuroba and Hakuba moved out of Ekoda.
The white wolf-dog moved with them.
+++
"I told you to leave me alone."
+++
Seven hundred and fifty eight days after the night before Hakuba showed up to school with white hair, and young man holding an umbrella looked down at a white animal huddled next to an apartment building.
"It's been two years." He commented, the non-umbrella hand shift it's grip on the plastic bag of groceries he carried. The wind blew bitterly cold rain with bits of slush around them, soaking the area. It was going to be a bad night. "And you're still following me, Shiro."
Gold eyes glanced up at him, then glanced away, ears drooping in a slightly guiltily manner.
The speaker sighed. "This is ridiculous."
The dog didn't contradict him. It just lay there, looking as miserable as a damp dog in a back alley can.
The umbrella holder sighed again. "Alright, enough. Come on, up with you. In you go." The wolf looked at him inquiringly. "I mean it. Up. Let's go."
With a tired huff, the large canine got to its feet and looked up at the man inquiringly, as if it say 'okay, so now what?'. In response, the teen turned and walked to the stairs of the apartment and began to climb. The dog paused to give itself a good shake, spraying water all over the formerly dry areas of the sidewalk before following him up several flights of stairs.
Only to pause beside the open door. "In." The man ordered. The wolf whined. "Hakuba Saguru, will you get inside this house before I kick your butt?"
With a half-hearted shake, the wolf trotted inside, Kuroba shutting the door behind them. The magician grumbled to himself, putting the umbrella in the stand to drip dry, shedding his coat and carrying the bag of groceries he'd been carrying into the small kitchen area, setting down the bag of groceries he'd been carrying. Still muttering, he took out this evening's dinner, tossing a melon bread at the wolf. "I won't eat alone."
The wolf caught it in mid-air, taking it over to a corner to eat. Kuroba quickly ate his meal, casting dark looks at the canine the entire time. The wolf, having finished off the bread, curled up and simply watched the magician with his head on his paws.
Kuroba sighed, cleaned up supper and pulled his futon out of the closet, setting it up on the floor before changing his clothes and finishing his evening abulations. One in his night attire, he turned to look at the wolf, who hadn't moved from the corner he'd eaten in. "Well?" Kuroba demanded. "What do you want?"
The wolf sighed, got to his feet and padded over to the futon. With a final glance up at Kuroba, he plopped himself down next to the padded fabric, curled up with his head resting on the material like a pillow, closed his eyes and proceeded to snore.
The magician stared for a moment, before shaking his head and crawling under the thick warm quilt. "If you kill me in my sleep, I'm going to do despicable things to you in the after life."
The wolf sneezed.
+++
"I can't."
+++
The morning of the seven hundred and fifty nine day after the night before Hakuba showed up to school with white hair, Kuroba woke up next to a naked man. Rather startled by this uncommon occurrence, he squeaked in alarm.
The noise woke up the naked man, who made his own squeak of alarm and promptly grabbed the quilt to hide his lower half.
Which then meant that Kuroba had a naked man under the covers with him. "Hakuba!"
"It's cold!" Hakuba protested, shivering. Kuroba noticed that he could almost see his breath and had to agree with him, but still...
He flipped the rest of the quilt over white haired man, covering Hakuba in it's folds as he half-scrabbled backwards. "Thanks." Pale hands wrapped the material closer around him, like a cloak.
"Why aren't you covered in fur?" Kuroba questioned, curling up, "Or are you only a dog when the sun isn't up?"
"Wolf." Hakuba corrected, a hand coming out of the folds of fabric and flexing. He stared at it, as if willing it to change shape. It didn't. "I think.... I think..."
"What?"
"It takes a lot of concentration and effort to say human." The white haired man was obviously confused. "I'm not changing back." Wide gold eyes stared at the dark haired boy in shock, surprise and not a little hope. "I'm not!"
"Congratulations." Kuroba's tone was dry. "Maybe you can explain it to me."
The buoyed expression instantly faded into a sombre abashed one. "Right. My apologies." Hakuba shifted, curling into a ball as the hand disappeared back into the folds of the quilt, the fabric tightening around him like protective armour. "From the beginning then?"
"If you could."
"Certainly. From the beginning." Eyes closed as he took a deep breath and let it out. "Two years ago, there was a stop over in Germany on the flight from London to Narita. There was a ripper case going on. I caught the murder, but he... killed himself on his weapon. Died. Staring at me... his lips were moving, like he was saying something."
He trailed off, eyes pinched shut in remembered horror. Kuroba waited a moment before prompting him. "And?"
"And... Ever heard of cursing someone with their dying breath?" Hakuba shrugged, shifting the quilt. "It's the only thing I can think of. Unscientific, of course, but none of this is scientific to begin with. And not unheard of in that region of the world. Several weeks afterwards, the full moon, I felt strange. Buzzed. So I went for a walk. I was going to go to the park, but..."
"Went into the forest instead." Kuroba finished.
"Yes. Where I ran into you." Pain filled eyes opened, looking at him. "I -am- sorry."
Kuroba waved it off. "Just finish the story." He was tired of this, tired of this business, tired of wondering. He wanted it over.
"Of course." Hakuba took another deep breath and let it out. "It... hurts, the transformation. I didn't know what it was, just that I wanted it to stop. I thought I was dieing. Then you were there... you were familiar, I reached for you... I just wanted the pain to stop... then..." He trailed off, visibly shivering, curling into a tighter ball.
"The next thing I remember is the blood. It was everywhere. On the ground, on you, covering my hands... My hands weren't even human anymore. You were sprawled on the ground; your eyes still open, huge and glassy. I thought you were dead. I think... that's when my hair went white. Screamed... then its all a blur again."
"You grabbed me." Kuroba said dully, finding the pattern of the futon suddenly interesting. He swallowed, then reached up and pulled the warm sweatshirt he'd worn to bed over his head. Lines of old scars, across his upper arms and torso marked the skin that was goose pimpled by the cold. The ones on the upper arms looked like they could have been made by human hands, furrows marking where the fingers and thumb would have rested.
The scars on the torso, running along his sides and ribs, looked like he'd been mauled by an animal.
"You looked human when you first grabbed me." Kuroba said, placing a hand on one set of scars on his upper arm, fingers covering the damaged flesh. "I thought you needed help or something. Then... you started to change. You wouldn't let go. The more I fought, the tighter you held. I -did- manage break your grasp, but then you wrapped yourself around me, screaming..." The hand moved, shifting to his ribs, along another set of scars. "Like a bear hug. You just held on, but your hands..."
"Became claws." Hakuba finished the sentence, voice low and hoarse.
"Your arms changed too, when your grip slipped, you'd grab me again." The hand slid down to another set of scars, less human than the first. His fingers slid past another set, and another, each set of marks more animalistic than the previous. A roadmap of events. "Eventually screaming stopped and you let go. You just... looked at me, wild. Then you started screaming again, but you held onto yourself this time. Think that's when I passed out."
"I think so too." The white haired man seconded. Kuroba looked at him for a moment, then nodded, pulling his sweatshirt back on. Hakuba pointedly looked away until the magician was clothed again.
"My memory's hazy for the rest of the night." Hakuba continued once Kuroba was covered again. "I remember people, and flashing lights, strong urge to stay hidden. So I did. It wasn't until the sun rose that my memory returned. It took me hours before I figured out how to be human again. I thought it was a bad dream, but when I got to school, you weren't there..."
"I woke up in the hospital." Kuroba's voice was bitterly ironic. "Couldn't tell them what happened. Thought I was insane. People don't just suddenly change into animals."
"That's what I thought too. Until the sun went down and I couldn't say human any more..." Hakuba swallowed. "It's different, being a wolf. Everything is suddenly... simpler. Things have different relevance. Schoolwork isn't nearly important, humans are to be avoided, cars are scary, things like that."
"Is that why you started stalking me at night?"
A shrug. "It's... hard to put into words. Like instinct. I knew you. I hurt you. Didn't mean to. Wanted... wanted to know you were alright, at first. Then... just kept watch, I guess. Protect. Couldn't stop. Scared other people sometimes, made sure they didn't hurt other people. Kid heists were the worst, waiting for you to come back, knowing the risks were higher and couldn't do anything..." Hakuba sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Like I said, it's hard to put into words."
"Thought you were stalking me to finish me off." Kuroba muttered. "Following me around at night. Got tired of it after a while." He chuckled half-heartedly. "S'why I invited you in. Figured just end the waiting."
"Actually... I think that's what may have done it." Hakuba let out a half-hearted chuckle. "Did research on, well, lycanthropy. I guess the curse didn't take fully, or I wouldn't have been human during the day. But one way to end the curse on a werewolf who's been changed by a curse or an accident is to call them or invite them into the house by their Christian name and give them a piece of bread to eat."
Kuroba gave him a wide-eyed stare. "Shit."
That's exactly what he had done the night before without thinking about it.
"Exactly."
"You mean... this whole thing could have -ended- long ago just by INVITING YOU IN FOR A FUCKING PIECE OF BREAD!?" Kuroba demanded.
The chuckle grew deeper, filled with a variety of emotions from giddy relief to pent-up terror. "Looks like." He attempted to muffle the noise as the chuckle turned into helpless laughter, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.
Kuroba glared, taking a moment to reach across the futon to grab the pillow and tossing it at the other man. Hakuba rocked with the impact as the pillow hit him, but the laughter continued unabated. Kuroba continued to glare for a moment before shaking his head, chuckling himself.
"So it's over, right?" He finally asked when the laughter died down to a less panic-filled level. "No more wolf?"
"I think it's safe enough to say so." Hakuba scrubbed his face with his hands, weariness creeping in. "Just loan me some clothing and I'll get out of your life."
"Deal." Kuroba rose and stretched. "They might be a bit small on you though, you're taller than me."
"I'll make do." Hakuba rose as well, tiredly fumbling with the quilt and accidentally dropping part of it, exposing half his body to the cool air. He yelped and quickly grabbed the quilt again, wrapping it around himself.
Kuroba's eyebrows reached his hairline. "Or not."
"Huh?" The white haired man looked at him in incomprehension. Kuroba smirked, walking over and tugging at the fabric until the pale back was exposed.
Long white hair hung past broad shoulders, stopping mid back as the torso continued, tapering into a narrow waist at the small of Hakuba's back. Below the small of his back, the white hair continued again, in the form of a long tail, the same that he had worn as a wolf.
Hakuba stared at the tail in shock. The tail wagged slightly in return, as if saying hello.
"Well, shit..."
-fin-
Shiro = White. Same kanji as Haku, which also means white. (isn't the dog in Masion Ikkou also named 'Shiro'?)
Sorry, tried talking Hakuba out of cussing at the end, but he was adamant.
Same back history and curse as in 'Werewolf', only in this case, the shock of thinking he had killed Kuroba not only bleached his hair white but pushed him all the way into wolf form. Once again, the curse was incomplete, which is why he could return to human form through effort.
Orginally read about someone's hair turning white with shock in a Chinese fairey tale when I was a child and it just kinda popped up here. ^^;;
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Date: 2004-09-22 02:50 am (UTC)