Disclaimer: I do not own Wolf's Rain and am not making any profit from this writing.
Takes place soon after the events in Episode 6, where Kiba challenged Zali's pack and lost.
Waiting
It was not that Toboe disliked Kiba. Quite contrary, he looked up to the white wolf. In the pup's mind, he was almost as awesome as Tsume – but not quite. No one could ever compete with Tsume, alpha or not, and Toboe felt bad for thinking it, but he would have greatly preferred being alone with Tsume, or even Hige, to being alone with Kiba.
He liked the white wolf, really he did, but at the same time, Kiba made him nervous. Tsume and Hige were predictable, easy to read. When Tsume was angry, he snarled and snapped at everyone. Hige was the most easy-going, and he hardly ever got angry. When Kiba was angry, he closed himself off. He was a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at any moment.
Toboe never worried very much when the pack was together. Tsume could handle the white wolf if he ever really lost his temper with the pack. So far, though, it had never gotten to that point, and the pup attributed this to Hige, who seemed to have a calming influence on the white wolf. Tsume and Hige could deal with Kiba's temper, but Toboe was not sure that he could.
Knowing all this, Toboe was dismayed to find himself trapped with Kiba in a storm. The white wolf was already in a foul mood at being not only delayed, but separated from the others to boot. Toboe carefully tried to avoid any trigger points to his anger.
"Um, Kiba?" he asked, nervously. The darker-haired boy turned slightly towards him, which he figured was as much invitation as he would get to speak.
"Are we going to keep looking for the others?" he bit his lip while he waited for his answer. Kiba's frown only deepened.
"No. We'll find them in the morning," he said, and his voice was steady and relatively calm, despite his obvious irritation.
"Oh. Okay. So where are we going?" Toboe queried, feeling slightly buoyed by the lack of frost in the older wolf's tone.
"We're going to wait out the storm."
At that moment, thunder cracked loudly. He jumped, feeling the hair on the back of his neck stand up, and grabbed tightly to Kiba's arm. He felt the muscles stiffen under his touch but, to his credit, Kiba made no attempt to remove the offending hands, whether by cutting words or by force. Toboe held onto him until he found a cave.
"Are you sure this is safe? What if there's something in there?" he asked worriedly.
"Why? Do you smell something?" Kiba responded calmly, not sparing a glance toward the younger wolf.
"N-no, but it's raining, and the scent could be gone and –"
"Let go."
"What?"
"Let. Go." Detecting a command in his alpha's words, Toboe obeyed, albeit reluctantly, and released his arm. Kiba strode into the cave, his stance tense and on guard, as always. The pup waited for an admonishment for his childish fears or an indication that there really was another animal in the cave. Neither came. Rather, the older wolf merely called him in.
"It's empty. Come on," he said simply. His tone was not annoyed like Tsume's, nor was it taunting like Hige's. Toboe quickly stepped into the cave and followed him, stopping within inches of the older wolf. Kiba raised an eyebrow at his behavior, but declined to comment.
He sat on the cave floor, crossing his legs beneath him, and focused on the entranceway. Toboe settled next to him, again wishing that he were with Tsume or Hige, despite Kiba's tolerance of his fearful behavior. He would not have hesitated to cuddle into Tsume, because even though the grey wolf would snarl at him at first, he would allow the contact. In this kind of cold, he doubted Hige would push him away either. Kiba, though, was an unknown, and Toboe's fear was still greater than his chill.
Nonetheless, he was only a puppy. To ask him to sit quietly all night during a thunderstorm was too much. He managed to keep his silence until the thunder stopped, though the rain still pounded the already muddy ground outside.
"Hey, Kiba?" he said softly.
"What is it?" was the response, after a moment. He did not look at Toboe as he spoke, but kept his gaze trained on the raindrops outside.
"Do you think Tsume and Hige are alright?" Toboe watched carefully for his reaction. He had begun to slump against the cave wall, but now he suddenly sat rigidly straight, his shoulders tense.
"They'll be fine," he said tightly, "They can take care of themselves."
Toboe swallowed.
"You don't think they've been split up, do you?" he asked. Kiba whipped his head around, staring at him. He was silent for a long moment, seemingly deep in thought, but then he turned his gaze back to the rain.
"No. They're smart enough to put their differences aside and stick together," he took in a deep breath, "Hige wouldn't go off on his own in this weather."
"What if he's looking for us?" Toboe wondered if he would, with his powerful nose. Surely, if Hige could scent them, he would come looking.
"He'd better not be," Kiba said darkly, "Even he won't be able to smell anything with this much rain."
"Oh," was all Toboe said. He quieted, and looked outside, trying to see what Kiba found so interesting. He found nothing.
"Are you worried about him?" he asked suddenly.
"Who?"
"Hige," the pup clarified. Kiba frowned.
"He'll be fine. They both will be."
"But are you worried about him?" he persisted.
Kiba was silent, considering.
"Yes," he finally admitted, "I am."
"Why?"
"Because I'm not there to protect him?" Kiba answered, a little hesitantly, as though he was unsure of his answer.
"Why do you need to protect him?" Toboe was really liking this. Tsume had always said that Kiba liked Hige.
"Because," Kiba didn't finish his answer, blushing. Toboe giggled slightly, covering it with his hand. Kiba blushed harder, looking at the ground.
"Sorry," the puppy apologized, not really meaning it, "I'll stop bothering you."
Kiba was too flustered to manage more than a faint nod. No longer afraid, Toboe sidled closer to him and leaned into the dark-haired youth. He stiffened again, but still allowed it. He hesitated, but eventually wrapped an arm around the pup, drawing him in more closely. Already half-asleep, Toboe readily cuddled into the offered warmth.
"Hey, Kiba?" he mumbled.
"What?"
"Do you think Tsume is worried?"
"About you? I'm sure he is," Kiba smiled at him.
"I bet Hige's worried about you," Toboe murmured. Kiba laughed softly at that, and the puppy smiled. His laugh was…nice.
"Go to sleep, Toboe."
Maybe Kiba wasn't so bad after all, he thought, as he drifted off and slept in his alpha's arms.
The end? I could write a reunion, I guess, but I kind of like it like this. Thoughts?
I know Toboe's pretty baby-ish in this. If he's a little OOC, I'm not fixing it. He needs to be so that Kiba can snuggle him. XD I always resented the lack of Kiba/Toboe interaction in the series. And I mean that in a brotherly/friendship kind of sense, not romantic. :)
Please review, and if you could vote in the poll on my profile, I would be very grateful. It asks for your favorite Wolf's Rain pairing. Happy New Year!