She walked through the clearing lightly, and with her basket swinging loosely from her hand, she admired the scenery around her. Many considered the forest to be an ominous place of foreboding, but the girl had a different view. She knew the forest like the back of her hand, she had walked through it countless times before, since it was the only path that went from the village to the professor's house, but she still couldn't shake the feeling of awe and wonderment every time she came.
The forest was only dark on the outside. Inside, it was lit up with sunshine fragmented by the distant tree tops above. She lowered her red hood, and waked on through the woods with flashes of scarlet trailing behind her. She got to a pond and sat down with her basket on her lap. As she began throwing bread crumbs out to the shimmering fish, she happened to catch the fleeting hint of a dark figure out of the corner of her eye.
She pretended not to notice, but a smile was beginning to tug at the corners of her mouth. The first time she saw the shadow, it definitely made her nervous and a bit paranoid, she ran all of the way back home. She always checked to make sure no one from the village followed her into the woods, but there was never anyone there.
Time passed, and eventually she got used to the retreating figure that followed her so often. It gave off a aura more similar to that of a shy animal than that of a crouching predator.
She remembered the time she saw the black wolf attacking the injured deer. She tried to attract the attention of the large, dark animal, and luckily, the deer managed to escape, however, she had suddenly became the new prey. It would've killed her for sure, but then the oddest thing happened. A flock of birds passed between her and the vicious wolf, leaving him dazed for a second, and giving her the opportunity to deal a fatal blow to its head. She would probably never forget the guilt she felt for taking the life of a living creature, but she also vividly remembered seeing the flock disappear between the trees... Right after the retreating form of a familiar looking shadow.
She wasn't sure how or why, but the shadow had helped her that day. From then on, the ever fleeting shadow felt more like a secret protector than anything to her. She felt safe and secure whenever she caught sight of it.
The fish were beginning to disperse. She picked herself up off the ground, and continued on her way
...
His head poked out from behind the tree, and he watched as the figure in the red cloak that floated in the gentle breeze grew further and further away. Just before the figure was about to take her final steps out of the forest, she took her hood, and silky, raven hair was swallowed up by red. Keeping her hands on her hood to keep the breeze from blowing it off, she turned in his direction. She was absolutely stunning, with the wind blowing around her cloak and the trees, and the sunset behind her, completing the picture. He caught a glimpse of her clear, blue, sapphire eyes, but no more than just a glimpse, since he knew he had to pull himself back behind the tree to avoid being seen. When he looked back out, the girl in the red hood had gone.
A few seconds passed and he picked himself up to quickly make his way over to the other side of the path. There was the rest of the forest to check up on, after all.
Every animal knew of Kaito, the human who had adopted the spirit of the wolf. He lived amongst them, away from all human contact after they murdered his father. He had come to be the guardian of the forest, protecting its' inhabitants with his eyes, ears, and claws as his ever reliable weapons, but lately he had taken to watching the girl in red.
Kudo Shinichi. He had risked going down to the village in in disguise to learn that name. The smart, beautiful girl, who everyone in the small village had heard of, was well respected for her intelligence, but was also something of a social outcast. She was known for always wearing a bright red cloak, for some odd reason.
It had started out as mild curiosity, a complete coincidence that he had seen her in the first place. The first time she came into the woods, the first things he noticed were her eyes. They were a lovely shade of blue that he had never seen before. They definitely didn't hold the same expression that the villagers had when his father was accused of being a warlock. He began to watch the girl more as she came to the forest more and more often. He convinced himself that he would drive her out at the first sign of her hurting the forest in any way, but he saw the way she took care not to harm the animals, and how she even began to bring food to the little ones who didn't hunt very well. He learned about the kind, caring, compassionate side of her, and his mild curiosity became infatuation, and he was content to watch her skipping, humming, and smiling through the woods...But then there was the incident with the Black wolf.
The creature had tried to prey on a deer with a limp near the pond, but she happened to be there, feeding the fish as she often did. Kaito was preparing to jump in and assist the poor, creature but he hesitated, as he had personal reasons for usually avoiding the pond. Within the short amount of time he had paused, however, Shinichi had already gotten up and put herself between the crippled deer and the vicious enemy now looking coldly into her eyes. He saw the way the wolf prepared to pounce with it's gaze locked on the fearful, yet firm standing girl in red. Without thinking, he made a signal to all nearby birds to attack, and she used the opportunity.
Kaito had never seen anyone, not even the most graceful hunter, move the way she did. It was over in an instant, almost too fast to see, and the action was so controlled, it was like art. She kicked the wolf's front legs out from under him (rather impressive, given the size and thickness of those legs), and in the same motion, brought her foot back up to catch him upside the head. Her legs carried enough power to knock teeth out of the dark wolf's mouth. When she bent down to check if the wolf was still alive, she actually mourned when she realized the dark creature was no longer breathing.
She had taken the body and buried it in a quiet area of the forest. Kaito saw for himself how she was saddened for weeks after by the death of the creature that had almost killed her.
But that wasn't the oddest part for Kaito. He recalled how, when he saw her an inch from death, he panicked. He had never felt his heart beat so fast, not even when he had run from his old village. He hadn't been close to the dark wolf when the incident happened, but he had been afraid. It wasn't even because of the fish this time, he had been afraid for her, afraid of watching her throat being ripped out, afraid of seeing her bloody, lifeless body fall on the ground, and above all, afraid of losing her forever.
It was that day that he realized: he was in love. Or no, he had been in love for a long time now, and seeing her in danger had made him understand that. It all finally made sense, the reason he so faithfully waited by the path he knew she always took, the reason his heart fluttered whenever she came too close to his tree, and the reason watching her walk through the forest with a contented on her face actually made him... Happy. Shincihi made him happy. Kaito laughed quietly to himself. The Wolf fell in love with Little Red Riding Hood. How ironic was that?
...
Shinichi sighed as she stepped out of the forest. The mysterious shadow hadn't revealed itself that day either. She had made sure to pause and pull up her hood, not only to protect against the wind, but also to hopefully encourage her hidden friend to come out.
Sometimes she wondered, did anyone in the village wonder why she went to visit the professor so often? She smiled to herself. She knew she was safe as long as that shadow was near, and no one would notice that she always took the longer path on purpose. She wanted to meet them, talk to them, get to know them... Whoever they were. At the very least, she wanted to see the face of the one who had been watching over her all this time.
But at the same time, she wasn't entirely sure if she really wanted to know. If she saw the owner if that shadow, would anything change? Would they leave and never come near her again? Would they disappear without a trace? Shinichi was known for being good at tracking people down in her home village (particularly murderers, thieves and kidnappers), but she had a feeling that the person casting that shadow would be a lot harder to find if they didn't want to be found.
She didn't want them to go. She didn't know who they were, but if knowing meant that she would lose them forever, she didn't want to know. She was happy enough knowing that they were there and feeling their presence. Even if they couldn't talk or be face to face with each other, despite wishing for more, it was enough for Shinichi.
She took one last look into the clearing. She was doubtful she would see anything, but then a gentle face with sad eyes entered through her line of sight. Those eyes never met hers, she blinked and they were gone. The clearing was empty again.
Had she really seen someone? Or was it just her imagination? She took a step into the forest and carefully looked around. Nothing but birds and trees in sight. She sighed. It was getting late, and even she got the feeling that going back into the forest wouldn't be very smart. She walked away, not knowing that the she wasn't the only one mourning over a lost opportunity.
A/N: Hi there! Thank you for reading my first fanfiction! I absolutely adore KaiShin!(genderbent or otherwise ;) The thing is, I've been wanting to put up a series of short stories featuring Kaito and Shinichi with different themed sets. I've already got a few ideas for a storybook set, a song set, and possibly a Shakespeare set. However, I kind of wanted to see the response I would get from those types of stories, hence this one shot (although those types of stories would have a little more plot going on...) This one was based on "The Wolf Fell in Love with Little Red Riding Hood" sung by Hanatan and Pokota (also known as "Ookami wa Akazukin ni Koi wo Shita") Again, thank you so much for reading!