It's a beautiful night. Warm and clear and so bright, you barely need the street lights which illuminate the sidewalk and your path ahead.

You hum happily, looking up at the moon, which is still rising in the sky. It's gorgeous tonight, already round and full and dazzlingly bright. It gives a tranquil, mysterious feeling to the night, making it undeniably romantic. Better yet, the night sky was clear, and you could see more than a few stars in the rapidly deepening blue of the night's sky. When the moon was at its peak, and the sky was at its darkest, you could only imagine how beautiful it would be.

You almost regret that Kyoutani wasn't walking with you now. The only thing that would make this night more perfect was his fingers entwined with yours, or his arm around your waist, holding you close to him to keep him warm.

You look up at the moon again, sighing wistfully.

Under such a beautiful moon, you almost believe that this is a night where anything can happen.

—

It takes a while, since you need to make one very important stop, but you reach Kyoutani's home relatively quickly. Good timing, as the night was steadily getting colder, and you were beginning to shiver, even with the large, hot container you were clutching close to your chest. It was the only thing keeping you warm…even if it practically assaulted your nose with the heavy scent of fried chicken.

The things you did for Kyoutani.

There was never any doubt that you truly cared about him, and there was little you wouldn't do to make him happy.

And that was why you were walking up to his doorstep late at night, holding a large container of his favourite food, hot and fresh. He'd been on edge lately, working himself to the bone on volleyball and schoolwork (trying to do well enough to keep himself on said volleyball team). You'd been extremely busy yourself, with exams approaching…and today had been the first day in a week that neither of you had anything major in the next two days.

You could still hear his voice when you'd asked to meet him tonight, knowing his father had left for the weekend, knowing this might be your last chance in a long while to spend real quality time with him, how torn up he'd sounded…

"Fuck! Look, I want to see you. I want to see you so bad, you have no fucking idea. I'd kill just to touch you right now. But I—I can't. Not tonight, I just…fuck!"

He'd gone on swearing for a while before you finally interrupted him, soothingly telling him it was fine, the two of you could always meet up on another night, there was no need to get upset. This was his night off, and the last thing you wanted was him spending it angry and in a terrible mood.

It'd taken a fair amount of time, but you could always calm him down.

"Shit, I'm sorry. I want to, I really want to."

He lets out an angry growl, and you can practically see him baring his teeth.

"It's just…It won't be good for you, okay? You won't want to be around me tonight. I—fuck, this sucks. I'll make it up to you, okay? I'll do anything, I swear!"

You tell him it's not necessary, that you're not upset, that you're not disappointed. It's a lie, and, although you try your hardest to hide it, Kyoutani's anguished groan tells you he knows. You tell him you understand, even though you don't, since he's being unusually cryptic, and that he can make it up to you by having a relaxing night.

"Tch. Yeah, eating leftover rice and microwave curry when I could be eating you. Relaxing night my ass…"

And, once you'd taken a few moments to get over one of his not at all unusual overly blunt and explicit statements, you'd gotten an idea.

You didn't have to spend the night together, but you could still surprise him with a nice hot dinner. You'd get to see him, if only for a few minutes, he'd have a much better dinner (albeit a late one…unfortunately, you'd had to finish some chores at home before you were allowed to go out), and you wouldn't stay long, so whatever was keeping him from meeting you tonight wouldn't be a problem.

You smile brightly as you knock on his door, already bouncing on the heels of your feet with excitement.

…Which slowly wanes, as no one answers it. You frown, a bit worried. Could he have gone out tonight? No…if he was going somewhere he would have told you point blank, so you knew exactly why you couldn't meet. Besides, on one of his few rest nights, you doubt he would want to stray far from home.

You sigh, and look around the side. You could see lights still on in the house as well, so it was doubtful he'd already gone to bed. No, the more likely scenario was that he had started doing something or other, most likely playing one of his games, and had gotten so engrossed he couldn't hear anything else.

Well, it got pretty warm in his house, especially during this time of year, so he'd probably be playing them in his basement, which was cooler. And his basement had a few windows around at ground level you could knock on to get his attention. Hopefully the neighbours didn't think you were a prowler…although most prowlers didn't bring a large container of fried poultry along with them to commit crimes.

"I hope he didn't fall asleep playing games." You mutter, as you walk around the side of the house. It doesn't take long to find a window, and you place the food container in your hands to the ground at your side as you crouch down to look through the window. As you thought, you can immediately see a familiar blond head, with two distinctive black stripes.

You sigh, since he does appear to be sleeping. He's sitting down, his back resting against the back of the couch he'd dragged down there two months ago. His head dropped forward, his hands out beside him…

Suddenly, your stomach churns wildly, and it's like your heart is caught in a vice. Something is wrong. His body is moving, but in jerky, spastic movements. You've never seen anything like it, and you know something is wrong.

"Kyoutani!" You cry out, slamming on the window with your fist. Fear and worry courses through your body, terrified that Kyoutani was sick. You bang on the window again when he doesn't answer, and you see it open slightly. Realising it's unlocked, you desperately push it open. It's just big enough, and even in your panic you're able to squeeze yourself through it.

You fall hard, landing painfully on your side on the hard basement floor. It barely slows you down, and in a moment you're back on your feet, ready to run to his aid, ready to do whatever you had to save him.

You stop.

You're not even consciously aware of it. Your body is paralysed, stuck completely still as your eyes widen, and you can only stare at the sight in front of you in confusion and disbelief.

Across the room, Kyoutani is now on his hands and knees, his entire body shaking. The white undershirt he's wearing seems stretched to the seams, and you can see a long tear growing from the right leg of the boxers he's wearing. He snarls, and your heart begins to beat wildly.

"K—Kyoutani?"

His head shoots up when you call his name. His eyes widen as they focus on you.

They're gold, and seem to be glowing with an unearthly light. He opens his mouth, making a strangled cry that almost sounds like your name, and all you can see are his wickedly sharp canines, which are growing before your eyes.

For a moment, you see terror in his eyes, so strong it even matches your own. You think he tries to call out again, before he lets out a low groan, and his head falls. Then…

Your head spins, and your vision almost goes blurry. It's almost like your mind is trying to protect you from fully seeing it, from attempting to actually comprehend what's happening before you. Your legs collapse beneath you, and you fall to your knees as you stare in front of you helplessly.

You hear tearing. The clothes Kyoutani was wearing are now in shreds, as his body continues to bulk and grow to supernatural proportions. Black fur sprouts from his body, and you can barely make out a tail.

I…should run…

The voice in your head whispers softly, but you don't listen to it. You can't. Your entire body feels like it's frozen, like all your muscles have turned to jelly and rock at the same time. You can't move…all you can do is stare in horror at the scene before you.

A blood-chilling snarl rips through the room, and Kyoutani stills. His immense, furred body heaves with his deep breaths.

Then, he slowly stands.

The tips of the furry ears on top of his head hit the top of the ceiling. Short black hair covers the powerful, vastly muscled body of the creature in front of you, and a thick fluffy tail flicks behind him. He stands on two feet, which are elongated, made for running, and his thick arms hang at his side. His huge hands each have a set of wickedly long black claws.

Two stripes of blonde fur wrap around his head.

You hear him sniff the air harshly, as his golden eyes once again focus on you. You barely have time to realize what he's doing, and he's suddenly darting forward at an insane, impossible to follow speed, and all you can see is a blur.

And then he's standing right in front of you. You can only stare up at him uselessly, your legs still crumpled up underneath you, as he towers over you. You fall back slightly on your backside, your hands falling uselessly against the cold floor.

He leans forward, now on all fours. It's the only way he can even remotely look you in the eye, although you still have to crane your neck upwards to look at him. He sniffs deeply again, and your hair flies back and forth with the force of his breathing. Hot, heavy breath washes over you as he exhales, his mouth opening slowly as he leans down.

You can see his fangs, wicked and gleaming and looking sharp enough to cut steel. Thick ropes of saliva drip from them, as he opens his mouth wider.

This was it. He was going to rip you to shreds. Kyoutani, your loving, caring boyfriend, who wasn't even himself, was…was going to…

You squeeze your eyes shut tight, as if it would make everything better.

Then, you feel something huge and wet run up your face, leaving a hot, sticky trail.

You open your eyes wide in surprise. Kyoutani's tongue hangs from his long maw. Before you can say anything, he leans forward and licks you again, leaving another trail of saliva up the side of your face.

You hear something whipping through the air. When you tilt your gaze to the side, you see a tail wagging frenziedly.

"Kyou…tani?" You whisper softly.

In response, he rubs his face against yours. His fur is thick and course, just like Kyoutani's actual hair, and you immediately feel a rush of relief and affection.

This was still Kyoutani. He was still there. He remembered you.

You almost want to laugh, you're so relieved. You wrap your arms around Kyoutani's neck, hugging him tightly. In response, his massive arms wrap around you, and hug you close to him. He makes a long, low noise in the back of his throat, one that sounds pleased and possessive.

Yes…he was still there.

He was still your Kyoutani.