Author's warning: An attempt at a multi-chaptered story that is nowhere near written out completely. Basically I only have the first chapter worked out so far, so should you decide to give this story a chance, it is at your own risk! There is a possibility that it will never get completed. Although I will do my utmost best to finish the story of course.
Author's very important note: This story wouldn't have come into existence if it hadn't been for Sillvog's "Dog Days". "Dog Days" is a KKM fic Sillvog started in 2008 that sadly enough never got finished. The idea for my own fic jumpstarted from her "Dog Days" and Sillvog has been so kind to grant me the permission to run with the idea and use the basis of it for my very own Uragiri fic. Should you be interested in checking out the original work that gave birth to "A Zweilt's best friend …", then just go here: www . fanfiction s/ 4554243 /1/ Dog-Days Just remove the spaces to get the link.
Dedication: To Sillvog naturally since without Sillvog's story my own story never would have seen the light.
Characters: Shusei and Hotsuma in the main roles. Supporting roles for the rest of the Uragiri characters.
Warnings: hints towards yaoi! If you don't like yaoi or have a problem with boy X boy relationships, please read some other story than this one.
Also hinting at events that took place in the manga and anime.
Disclaimer: I don't own Uragiri or its characters. They are and remain property of Odagiri Hotaru.
Fic:
A Zweilt's best friend …
Hotsuma cracked his knuckles, the flesh stretched over his bones looking already bruised, torn and bloody. His eyes surveyed the alley. Three forms lay limp on the ground; two other boys remained on their feet and were looking menacing back at him. One of them held out a knife ready to strike at the blond Zweilt. The light of one of the small backdoor lights glistened off the knife's blade.
Hotsuma spat at the ground. There were dirty smears on his face and an already faint outlining of a bruise where one of the gang members had managed to plant his fist before an uppercut from Hotsuma had sent the guy to lala-land.
The guy with the knife took a step forward in Hotsuma's direction, but the blond refused to step back. He wasn't going to let himself be boxed in between the high wall at the end of the alley at his back and the guy standing in front of him.
The knife guy twisted the knife, letting it roll in his hand in anticipation for staining the knife with Hotsuma's blood.
Hotsuma's eyes narrowed, the blond preparing himself to ward off the attack and get in his own shot instead. His adversary smiled nastily. The thug obviously felt on the winning side due to him being the one holding the knife instead of Hotsuma. If only he knew, Hotsuma thought grinningly to himself.
Hotsuma hadn't planned to get drawn into a fight when he had left the arcade but when he had passed this alley and had seen these thugs cornering a girl, his chivalry side had taken over. He had come to the girl's aid and had found himself left alone behind with her thugs when the girl had made herself scares as soon as the opportunity had presented itself. Not that Hotsuma had minded. It had probably been better this way. Now he hadn't needed to worry about her safety and had he been able to focus completely on the guys who had decided to cool their anger on him for the escape of their prey.
"I'll make you feel sorry for sticking your nose in business where it ain't wanted," the knife guy said.
Hotsuma smiled back nastily. "I always make it my business when thugs like you harass innocent ladies."
The knife guy smiled back. "Don't worry. I'll cut that attitude out of you." He lifted his knife, ready to strike when suddenly a deep growling thundered through the air. The knife guy froze in his movement.
Hotsuma too became distracted by the sudden, unexpected noise. All thoughts of possible defending moves disappeared out of his head, his mind focusing completely on the sudden disruption in the air. Whatever was making that sound was in a foul mood, Hotsuma thought to himself. The growl had sounded far from happy.
The knifeless guy started backing away from the entrance of the alley. His body came to align itself with Hotsuma's. Hotsuma could see the paleness of the boy's face in the backdoor light; the thug however didn't concern himself at all with Hotsuma anymore. The guy stared in fear at something that the knife guy was still blocking from Hotsuma's purview.
Another growl sounded, louder this time and even more rage rolling off it. Whatever was making that sound obviously wasn't pleased that the knife guy had turned towards it and was brandishing the knife now in its direction.
On the stony wall to Hotsuma's left appeared a huge shadow as the creature at the entrance of the alley slowly started to walk into the narrow street. Its shadow became bigger with each step forward it made.
Hotsuma's eyes remained focused on the knife guy in front of him and the to him invisible threat. The Zweilt only took note of the advancing shadow from the corner of his eyes. Shadows were harmless, the things creating those shadows weren't.
The knife guy's courage started to waver, the guy unsure whether to attack or back away. Finally his sense of survival kicked in and the guy unconsciously took a step backwards from the advancing threat. The move nearly made him collide with Hotsuma who remained firm and refused to budge a single inch. The near collision made the knife holding guy realize what he was doing and a new wave of anger washed over him. He would show that damn creature! No one made him back down. With a mighty roar the knife guy flung himself forward, right in the arms of the threat.
Surprise overcame Hotsuma as he finally got sight of what exactly had been growling threateningly since a few moments.
A large brown dog easily evaded the stab from the knife in its direction. The dog jumped sideways, bent through its forelegs and then pushed itself off and jumped towards the wrist of the hand that held the knife. Teeth with saliva trails between them glistened in the poor light in the alley as the dog opened its muzzle to clamp it down on the knife guy's wrist.
The knife guy howled out in pain and anger as the dog's teeth closed around his wrist. His hold on the knife loosened and within a fraction of a second the knife tumbled to the ground where it got swallowed up by the rubbish littering the pavement.
Having accomplished his goal, the dog released the knife guy's flesh and landed back on its legs. Immediately after the dog jumped backwards out of kicking range of the knife guy after which the animal took back a battle ready stance should it prove necessary.
Blood sprayed out of the knife guy's wrist. The guy put pressure on the wound with his other hand whilst wailing about the stupid mug having severed a vein. Hotsuma however realized due the amount of blood the guy was losing that the dog had actually only nicked the vein. The animal had avoided administering a potentially lethal wound. Hotsuma wondered if the dog had done this deliberately or whether is was just a coincidence. His eyes travelled to the brown dog. The animal's neck hair was still raised and the dog still emitted low grumbles whilst it stayed focused on the knife guy.
"Filthy mug!" the knife guy roared out. He dashed forward to the dog and sent a kick at the animal's body whilst he kept his left hand clamped around the wound on his right wrist.
The dog easily danced out of the kick's path and jumped on a small pile of wooden boxes. The dog was now at eye level with the wounded guy.
The dog's ear flattened against its head. The hair in its neck went to stand even more upright. Its eyes narrowed and his muzzle opened and revealed its teeth anew that were now tainted red from the earlier attack. The dog's entire posture took on a stand to leap at the wounded guy and attack the guy's face.
Faced with the threat at eye level the wounded guy's face paled considerably. Sense finally seemed to kick in and the guy turned on his heels and ran out of the alley, away from the dog.
The dog's focus shifted to Hotsuma and the last remaining boy beside Hotsuma. The thug whimpered softly and seemed like he was ready to wet his pants.
The dog jumped of the pile of boxes and advanced in a slow, menacing manner on Hotsuma and the thug.
Hotsuma remained standing rooted to the spot, his brain telling him it was best not to move and set off the large dog. The guy beside him however started to back away towards the wall behind them whilst whispering in a litany "Good doggie, nice doggie."
The dog's lips started to tremble even more as his growl slow but steadily started to rise in volume again. The creature was now at the same height as Hotsuma, its focus completely on the backing up guy and ignoring Hotsuma. This didn't give Hotsuma however the false hope that he could make a run for it without the dog suddenly changing preys.
The thug in the meantime had reached the end of the line and was trembling all over now as he realized his trapped position with the dog still getting closer to him. Slowly the boy started to slide against the wall to the left, away from the dog, but the animal kept following him. Together the thug and the dog made a circle around Hotsuma's body. When the boy reached Hotsuma's left shoulder, he suddenly decided to risk it all and made a run for it. The dog leaped in action almost immediately and chased after the thug till the edge of the alley. There the dog halted and gave a final bark after the thug's retreating back as if to warn the guy to never come back here. Then the dog turned around again and its eyes now sought out Hotsuma's form.
Hotsuma felt his muscles clamp down and his heartbeat thundering in his chest, but as the dog slowly walked towards him, its menacing aura disappeared. The animal seemed to morph into a kind and normal housedog.
The dog stopped right in front of Hotsuma and sat down. Its tail started to slap softly against the ground whilst its mouth opened and a pink tongue slid out of it and remained there as the dog panted seemingly happy and proud of itself.
Hotsuma stared back at the dog, unsure what to make of this sudden change. Just a second ago the dog had looked as if it had been ready to tear out all of their throats and now it was looking at him as if it wanted a good scratch behind the ears.
Hotsuma swallowed and slowly forced himself to relax whilst staying ready just in case the dog would suddenly shift back to its Hyde form. The dog however just remained sitting there, letting the blond Zweilt make the first move.
Hotsuma bit his lip and then slowly crouched down. His mind screamed at him that he was an idiot for playing such an easy prey for the dog, but he ignored the raging voice in his head and held out his hand whilst he waited with his breath stuck in his throat.
The dog looked from the outstretched hand to Hotsuma's face and then back to the offered hand. Calmly the dog stood up and walked over to the blond's hand where it bumped its head against the hand and initiated a pet over his head by his own movement against the stilled hand.
Carefully Hotsuma dared a small movement from his fingers, stilling them almost immediately anew out of fear that the dog would perhaps not appreciate that he partook in the head rub.
The dog's muzzle opened again and the tongue lolled back out of it in a happy pant. After this the dog's head made a new bump against Hotsuma's hand to encourage the blond on.
Slowly Hotsuma started to pet the dog, becoming bolder as the dog's only reaction was the happy panting and its eyes closing as it enjoyed the petting. Hotsuma rubbed the dog behind its ears. "You're not so scary, are you?" he laughed out, his earlier fear completely evaporated now that the dog didn't resemble in any way anymore the earlier threat.
He gave a final pet to the dog's head and then straightened back up. "Thanks for the help. Even if I could have taken them easily out on my own," he winked. The dog tilted its head slightly to the right in answer and looked at the blond teen questioningly as if it had understood him.
"What?" Hotsuma reacted. "You're doubting me?"
The dog stood up and bent through its front legs. It released a bark as if to tell Hotsuma that he was indeed not buying the blond's bravura.
A laugh escaped Hotsuma's throat. "You're as bad as my partner," he grinned.
The dog gave another answering bark.
Hotsuma crouched back down and rubbed the spot behind the dog's left ear. "Oh? So now you are agreeing with me, are you? You know, you kinda remind me off him. You've got the same brown hair although his is softer to the touch and doesn't smell this bad."
The dog jumped away from the blond Zweilt and released a salvo of protesting barks. It brought forth a laugh from Hotsuma. "All right, all right. I apologize. Friends again?"
The dog barked a single time.
"Good," Hotsuma replied. "I wouldn't want to get on your bad side. You seem as scary as Shusei can get and speaking of Shusei, I'd better get home or he'll be on my case for staying out late again. See ya around."
Hotsuma gave a final wave to the dog and then sauntered out of the alley back into the well-lit street. His hands slipped into his pockets and he casually strolled down the street, regarding some windows of shops and ignoring others. He didn't give any indication of it, but he was highly aware that the dog had followed him out of the alley and was trailing behind him. He hadn't seen any collar on the dog so he was assuming it was a stray dog, and he did feel pity for the homeless animal, but he couldn't very well bring a dog with him back to the Twilight Mansion. Takashiro would skin him alive. And so he was hoping that if he kept ignoring the dog that it would give up following him.
As he reached the gate of the mansion, Hotsuma sighed and turned around. The dog stopped too and looked expectantly up at him.
"Listen," Hotsuma started, scratching the back of his head," you seem to be a great dog and all, but you can't stay here. The owner of this place is a real devil. I'm doing you a favor by keeping you away from him."
The dog trotted over to Hotsuma and walked past him, stopping just inside the gates. It gazed at the mansion and then turned its head towards Hotsuma and released a single bark to encourage the blond on to hurry up.
Hotsuma shrugged his shoulders and walked over to the dog. "Don't say I didn't warn you," he rebutted the dog as he stepped past the animal.
Together they strolled over the drive towards the small landing that lead up to the front door. Hotsuma jogged up the stairs and the dog followed him but took the steps at a calmer pace. The blond Zweilt gave a final glance at the brown dog. "Last chance," he spoke up. The dog merely regarded him, waiting patiently for Hotsuma to open the front door for him.
"Well, it is your funeral," Hotsuma relented before he opened the big front door and held it open for the dog to pass and walk into the brightly lit hallway.
"Guess we can better first find Shusei. Maybe he'll know what to do with you before Takashiro turns us both into dog stew."
The dog released a happy bark in reply, making Hotsuma immediately fall to his knees beside the brown dog and clamp its muzzle shut. "Sshh," he hissed. "Do you want to give the game up?"
"Shusei, you found him!"
Hotsuma winced as Toko came running from the living room towards him and the dog. "I can explain," he started when suddenly the name Toko had used registered.
Shusei?
Hotsuma looked around him, expecting to spot his partner somewhere in the hallway. The place however was empty apart from him, the dog, Toko and Tsukumo whom was following his sister at a more sedated pace.
Toko crouched down in front of him and the dog and rubbed the dog behind its ears. "Smart boy. I should have known not to doubt you."
Hotsuma frowned. "Do you know this dog?" he asked, looking from the dog to Toko.
"That's a matter of how you look at it," Tsukumo answered calmly, making the blond look up at him in question. Tsukumo didn't look his usual happy self. The gray-haired boy seemed troubled.
"What's going on here?" Hotsuma demanded. "And where is Shusei?"
Toko and Tsukumo shared a look before Toko straightened back up. "I think you can better come with us, Hotsuma."
Hotsuma stared at the figure laying limply on the bed. He took a hesitant step forward into the room and towards the bed.
"You know how his God's Talent was slowly evolving, right?" Tsukumo asked from somewhere behind Hotsuma. Hotsuma could only nod, his complete focus remaining on the boy on the bed in front of him. The brunet appeared to be just sleeping, but if that were the case, Tsukumo and Toko wouldn't be making such a big deal out of all of this. Not to mention that if Shusei really was just taking a nap, then he should have woken up already, shouldn't he?
"Apparently Shusei has been practicing with a newly developed ability he didn't share yet with any of us," Tsukumo continued. "We are not completely sure how it works, Shusei is probably the only one who can give the finer details of the workings, but I am guessing it comes down to Shusei being able to use his God's eyes to look through the eyes of other living beings."
One word caught Hotsuma's interest and he glanced unbelieving over his shoulder at the Murasame siblings who were standing just inside the room and keeping a reasonable distance between themselves and the bed as if they didn't truly felt allowed to be in the room here with him and Shusei. "You guess?" Hotsuma repeated disbelieving. "My partner is in some sort of fucking coma and you are guessing?!" With each new word, Hotsuma's tone of voice rose in volume. "How about actually knowing what is going on here and how the fuck we can get him to wake up anew?!"
"Tachibana has been trying to contact Takashiro, Hotsuma," Toko spoke, taking a hesitant step towards Hotsuma, not sure how she could comfort the boy or even if the blond would appreciate such a gesture from her. "Just remain a bit longer calm. Takashiro will know what to do. We are convinced of it."
Hotsuma released a condescending sound and returned his attention to his sleeping partner on the bed. "So what? Shusei decided to take a lovely stroll in the city through the eyes of this mutt," he gestured at the dog that had followed him home and was sitting calmly beside him, "and got somehow stuck in the dog? This dog is Shusei. Is that what you are telling me?" His golden eyes returned to the siblings for confirmation.
"It appears so," Tsukumo answered. "As we understand it, Shusei has to enter someone's mind and take it over to be able to see through the eyes of someone else. But whilst he never had a problem to return to his own body before, his mind now seems to be stuck in the dog."
"Pfh, can't he just take his own mind over anew then so he can be back in his own damn body?" Hotsuma reasoned. His eyes came to focus on the dog that was still sitting dutifully beside him. "That's your fucking body, Shusei," Hotsuma pointed a finger at the form on the bed, "stop playing around and get back in it."
The three Zweilts all waited for a few moments, each of them perhaps in their own way expecting some kind of miracle to happen after all. Perhaps Hotsuma's Voice of God being enough to snap Shusei back out of it and return the boy back to his own form cause hadn't Hotsuma already been able to bring Shusei back from the dead before with just his voice? Surely this should be child's play in comparison to that, no? But minutes ticked by without anything happening.
Finally Hotsuma gave up. He sagged down on his knees beside the bed and gently took hold of Shusei's limp hand. "You stupid idiot," he murmured, his tone of voice laced with affection mingled with pain and helplessness. "Why do you always have to take such stupid risks?"
Tsukumo and Toko shared a look. Both felt like they were intruding now. Softly they stepped out of Shusei's bedroom and gently shut the door so Hotsuma could have some privacy.
The blond Zweilt remained sitting beside the bed that held his partner's limp form, Shusei's cold and pale hand clasped gently between his two warm and darker tanned ones. Beside him, the brown dog shuffled closer to the bed and laid its head on the blankets beside the Zweilts' clasped hands. Faithful, sad brown eyes stared at the centre of Hotsuma's attention, the trapped Zweilt inside the dog feeling pained for the hurt he was causing the one who meant the world to him. If only there was a way for him to make the blond smile and happy again. For now all he could do however was remain by Hotsuma's side and offer the blond Zweilt his silent support and comfort. Hopefully it would be enough to ease some of the pain in Hotsuma's heart.
Shusei made a soft whining noise and buried his nose a bit deeper into the blankets. Together, he and Hotsuma kept watch by his body.
TBC ?
Author's note: Okay, so this was the first chapter to a possible new story that has been hounding my brain and wouldn't leave me alone until I decided to give it a go to put it down on paper. I don't know if any of you are interested in this type of story though so let me just ask. Do you guys want me to continue this story or not? Do you see a potential in it? Like the idea so far? Want to see more interaction between Hotsuma and dog Shusei? Or should I just abandon the idea and not try to write more chapters for it? By the way, this story is completely unwritten, so I am always open for cute suggestions that I can use in further chapters. I don't have a dog myself so I am basing this all on the dog of my neighbours, who is a sweetheart by the way, but perhaps you guys are dog owners and can help me out with ideas. What all happens in a dog's daily life? And how are his/her's interactions with its owners? If I use one of your ideas, I will give you of course credit for it.
Author's note 2: So basically the first author's note is just a polite way to ask for reviews, ideas and your global opinion. Thanks very much to everyone who is willing to put the time in leaving me such a review.
Author's note 3: The idea for Shusei's new developed talent comes from the "Study series" written by Maria V. Snyder. One of the main characters in her books also possess a similar power, she just however never managed to get stuck in someone else's mind, LOL. In any case, it is a wonderful serie that I adored reading and if you love fantasy coupled with romance, then I can recommend Maria V. Snyder's books to you.