Heavy, laboured breathing.
A quiet crunch as Ayano slid gently from a shaking back and on to the cold, hard gravel beneath their feet.
A small whimper.
A large mass of sweat, muscle, bleeding wounds and tattered fur hobbles forward to be next to Ayano.
This monster, this beast, this was the one she loved. This was Kyouko, in her most primal form, but it was still Kyouko.
It was Kyouko's steely blue eyes that gazed sadly in to her own, the cut above her brow bleeding freely.
It was Kyouko who tried, so very hard, to defend Ayano, to keep her safe. She had taken bullets, Ayano knew that, she had seen the guns fire; she had heard the angry screams of their attackers.
"BEAST! MONSTER!" They roared, their hate burning hot in her ears as she gripped tighter to that thick, muscular back.
Ayano had never in her life seen any creature move that fast, taloned paws tearing across the ground with the practiced skill of one who should be greater than Kyouko's years, and yet there she was, riding a creature she had thought only to exist in fairytales.
A werewolf.
Kyouko.
She had heard the yelp as a bullet met it's mark, tearing through the muscular flesh of Kyouko's right shoulder. She had felt the mass beneath her stumble.
"KYOUKO!" she had screamed. That was all she could do, but it was enough.
The mass had shifted again, steadying itself, somehow driving through the searing agony of a gaping bullet wound.
Ayano moved to the right of the mighty creature that had only minutes ago been her Kyouko, a blonde teenager with a passion for life and a kindness like no other. She gasped. The wound was far worse than she had even imagined. It was deep, gaping, and seeping scarlet.
Kyouko must have noticed her reaction, reaching to clutch the wound and give a small, toothy grin, as if to say "It's not that bad".
Unsure what to do, Ayano took a step closer to that giant furry head. Looking in to those piercing blue eyes, watching the anger and hatred in them melt away like the snow that would have been underfoot just a few days ago.
Bringing a hand up to stroke that scarred muzzle, the blood on Kyouko's brow again caught her eye. She moved her hand up slowly and softly, not wanting to hurt her any more, gently pressing her thumb to the wound, stemming the pinpricks of red with a mild wince from Kyouko.
She leaned in to that furry, warm chest, shutting her eyes and listening to the rhythmic thumping of that heart, that heart that beat only for her.
She felt the furry warm chest disappear.
Ayano opened her eyes to see a blonde girl, crumpled on the ground, breathing raggedly. A blonde girl, who against the light of those she faced, seemed infinitely smaller than the creature she had been only moments ago. That creature was still her, though. That mammoth animal with razor claws, piercing teeth and a howl that sent chills up the spine. That animal was Kyouko, the little blonde girl who tried, tried so very hard to keep Ayano safe.
Ayano felt sudden warmth stemming from her chest, spreading, sending a heat to her toes and fingertips.
She reached to touch the source of the warmth, a calmness washing over her. As Ayano held her own hand, dripping red, to her face, she smiled.
Leaning down, she gently pulled Kyouko to her feet.
Kyouko could not stand by herself.
Ayano heard the roar of the hunters only briefly, before the sound was washed away by a calming silence from within her own skull, a ringing.
She did not care.
She reached forward, to lift Kyouko's chin, her eyelids fluttering open to reveal those blue eyes, their brightness fading.
Leaning in, her lips met Kyouko's. A soft kiss, a kiss with the love of a thousand lifetimes, the memories, the joys and the sorrows of the years spent together.
As Ayano's vision faded, she felt Kyouko's body lurch as a hole was torn through her abdomen and the bullet travelled through Ayano's body.
She was so warm, so happy.
Even the ringing was gone, as her vision faded to darkness.
"I love you" she whispered.