A/N: I really love reading shifter stories on my kindle lately, and I thought that it would be fun to mix werewolves with the characters from persona 4. I really hope you give the story a chance, and that you enjoy reading it!

Also, I'd like to warn everyone that this story will contain M/M romance and werewolves. I like to receive constructive criticism, but anyone complaining about either of those two things will ignored, because you have been warned.

If, however, you like either of those things, please read and review!

Chapter 1

"I bet you don't have such bumpy roads in the city," Dojima said, glancing at his nephew in the rear view mirror. It was obvious that the man was a little uncomfortable around him, even without the werewolf ability to sense emotions.

"Not really, but the view isn't as nice," Yu answered, gaze returning to the grassy fields rolling past the window. It seemed like every human aspired to a life in the city, Yu's mother included, but Yu had been desperate to leave ever since he could remember. There was no way he could run in the city, enjoy the full moon like he wanted to, needed to. A large wolf running lose through the streets would attract a rather unfortunate amount of attention.

"I bet you can't wait to go explore, huh?" Dojima said, like he knew what his nephew was thinking. "It's a shame you arrived when you did. The pack won't be going for a run for another two weeks. If you're careful, you can always go out on your own, though."

"Actually, I've never really done a full shift," Yu answered, blushing. "I mean, if I'm not careful my ears and tail show when I'm angry, or if I'm really relaxed, but I've never done anything more than that."

Nanako leaned around, peering at him from the front seat.

"I can do that, too," Nanako said solemnly. She had been so quiet and shy that Yu had almost forgotten she was there.

Suddenly she smiled. "My friends say it's really cute when they see my ears and tail! They say it's like Tokyo Mew Mew." For the first time since they'd met at the station, his little cousin looked happy.

"Nanako!" Dojima scolded. "I told you not to do that in front of anyone!"

Nanako muttered an apology, then sat back in her seat, suitably chastened. Her unhappiness was obvious, and Yu felt a little sorry for her. Still, he understood his uncle's concern. Werewolves weren't supposed to reveal their true nature to humans, and as alpha of his pack, Dojima was expected to uphold the rules rigidly.

"Still," Dojima said, "I forgot how little you've developed as a wolf. It must have been hard living in the city, with my big sister practically a human herself."

Yu's mother had been born into a strong werewolf family, but she had been unable to shift at all. It was unusual, but not unheard of. She had left Inaba for the big city when she was just out of her teens, marrying Yu's father shortly after. As a result, Yu had been born in the city, far away from all of his mother's family. He hadn't even met another werewolf until his uncle had picked him up only half an hour ago.

"You're from a powerful werewolf bloodline, Yu," Dojima continued, "so I'm certain shifting will be a breeze for you. Your mother might not have been a shifter herself, but she still carried the genes. However, if you're unsure what to do, then just wait for the full moon and we'll all go out together."

"No, we won't," Nanako mumbled. "I'm never allowed to go."

"Nanako… You're still too young to run with the pack," Dojima answered

"Mummy told me that you might take me out some night, just the two of us."

"Nanako, I'm too busy…" Dojima's awkwardness was almost tangible. Yu could tell that his uncle wasn't even comfortable talking to his own daughter.

"Nanako, when I'm comfortable with shifting, you can come along with me," Yu said, feeling sorry for her once again. He knew what it was like to feel lonely.

"Really?!" Nanako looked so excited, happy once more. She was adorable.

"Sure! I've always wanted a little sister," Yu said. He actually had never given the idea a thought, but Nanako's happy response made him glad he'd said it.

"Can I call you big bro then?" Nanako asked, almost shyly.

"Sure." It seemed like he'd already made one friend in Inaba, even if she was just a little kid. Still, it was already better that what he'd left behind in the city.

"It's getting late," Dojima said, seemingly happy about their little conversation. "You both have school tomorrow, so I want both of you to got to bed as soon as we get in."

Oh crap. He'd sort of forgotten about his new school. At least things couldn't go as badly in Inaba as they had back in the city. Even growing up isolated from other werewolves, Yu found it difficult to fit in with humans...

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"I heard there's going to be a new kid starting today," Chie said, looking pleased. "Do you think it'll be a guy or a girl?"

It was a lovely sunny day, and the walk to school was actually pretty nice. Yosuke had to admit that sometimes Inaba could be beautiful, even if it was the most bloody boring place to live.

"I bet you're hoping for a girl, huh, Yosuke?" Chie said, elbowing him in the side. He was starting to regret stopping. He'd been riding his bike when he'd seen the two girls and decided to walk with them, rolling his bike at his side.

"Yeah. Apart from Yukiko, the girls here aren't much to look at." Not that Yosuke actually cared to look. A good looking guy was more what he was hoping for. The city had been full of sexy guys, and nobody batted an eye at the sight of two men together. But this was the country, and the people here were less accepting. It was a pain in the ass, but as he hadn't even met a guy he was interested in, he guessed in didn't matter if he was living in the closet or not.

"I hope it's a girl, too," Yukiko mused. "It would be nice to have another girl to talk to."

"Ugh, Yukiko!" Chie groaned. "Why would you want another girl? You've got me! And all the guys here are so boring!"

Yosuke had to agree. He didn't know how many more conversations he could listen to about farm work, fishing or hiking. What the hell was wrong with these crazy mountain people?

"If it's a guy, then you might finally get a boyfriend," Chie said, smiling at Yukiko.

"Hey, don't bet on it," Yosuke said. "I've seen the way she turns guys down flat. She doesn't even give the poor idiots a chance!"

"Well, she's so pretty!" Chie argued. "She's gotta have standards! Just 'cause you'd jump on anything with boobs!"

Yosuke shook his head, exasperated. How in the hell had he gotten such a playboy image anyway? All he'd done to hide his sexuality was ask Yukiko out, for appearances only, after he realised she shot all guys down immediately.

Yukiko was blushing, ducking her head. "I don't know what you're talking about, Chie. A guy's never even been interested in me before, anyway."

"God, you can be so dense sometimes. What about that weird dude who said he'd only get into the hot springs at your place if you got in with him? Or that creep we caught hanging around the school who randomly called you 'Yuki'?" Chie said, exasperated. "Jeez, if I had your looks I'd string along all the guys in the school."

"I thought you didn't like any of the guys at our school," Yosuke reminded, amused.

"Yeah, well, it would be fun having a bunch of guys doing anything I say… even if they are boring," Chie gave him a happy grin.

"You know, I remember having this conversation before," Yukiko mused.

"Huh? We talked about enslaving all the male students before?" Chie asked, confused.

"No, not that. I mean, I remember you saying you hoped the new student was a cute guy. Then when we found out he was from the city you said he had to be hot for sure, but in the end it turned out to be Yosuke."

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Yosuke asked, irritated. Chie was cackling with laughter now.

"I mean, what's wrong with me, anyway? Ugh, why do I even talk to you two," Yosuke muttered.

"Well, I mean, it's not so much your looks," Chie said, still smirking a little. "A lot of the girls actually thought you looked cool. But then you opened your mouth, and they all ran off screaming," Chie shook her head sadly, giggling again as Yosuke swatted at her.

"That's it," Yosuke grumbled, climbing on his bike, "I'm off. See you two bitches later."

"Yosuke, wait!" Chie cried as he cycled off. "I need to copy your math homework!"

"God, Chie, you really know how to make a guy feel loved!" Yosuke yelled. "If you - Oh, shit!"

The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back, somehow trapped between his bike and the trashcan he'd just collided with. Damn it! He should have been more careful. This was his fourth crash this month, after all.

Yosuke sat up, shoving his bike off of his lap. He pushed himself to his feet, freezing when he realised that he had an audience.

"Uh, are you alright?" the stranger asked. Yosuke eyed him as he tried to right his bike, figuring that this must be the student Chie had been chatting about.

Oh God. It seemed like both his wish and Chie's had come true; the new guy was gorgeous. And Yosuke had just made a total dick of himself in front of him. Typical. Yosuke felt himself blush in mortification, trying to brush the garbage from his trousers.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine," Yosuke stammered, cursing himself for being such a klutz. Jesus, this guy was hot. He had the most stunning silver hair, and his pretty eyes matched perfectly. Yosuke hoped he'd get to know the guy better… a lot better.

"That's good," the stranger said, smiling almost shyly, cheeks pink, as though he'd somehow heard what Yosuke was thinking.

"Oh man!" Chie gasped as the two girls caught up. "That was friggin' hilarious!"

"Chie!" Yukiko chided. "Are you alright, Yosuke?"

"Um, yeah," Yosuke repeated, blushing even deeper as he glanced at the stranger again. The first good looking guy he met in this crap heap of a town, and he just had to make a balls up of the thing.

"Ooh! So, you're the transfer dude?" Chie asked, finally noticing their audience.

"Heh, yeah, I guess so," the silver haired boy answered. "I'm Yu Narukami."

"Cool!" Chie replied, "I'm Chie Satonaka, that idiot is Yosuke Hanamura, and this is Yukiko Amagi."

"Nice to meet you," Yukiko said, bowing her head slightly.

"There's no need to be so formal," Yu said, smiling.

"I'm so glad we got to met you first! So, are you from the big city? And why'd you move here?" Chie asked, and the boy's silver eyes slid back to her.

"Yeah, I did move from the city," Yu answered, looking a little uncomfortable.

"What about the reason," Chie persisted. "Oh my God, is it something really bad?"

"Leave him alone, Chie," Yukiko scolded. "If we stand around here any longer we're going to be late."

"Yeah, that wouldn't exactly look good on your first day," Yosuke joked, totally unable to keep his eyes off of Yu as they all fell into step. Finally, his first crush in Inaba!

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Things were going amazingly well. Yu had already made three friends, and homeroom hadn't even started yet.

He had never been able to make friends. Werewolves were pack animals, and Yu was a dominant wolf. Even when he was dealing with humans, his natural instinct was to force others to follow his lead, make them do what he told them to.

Also, just like a dog loved to be petted, physical contact was something all werewolves craved. Nothing scared off a potential friend faster than a bit of impromptu cuddling. And speaking of cuddling…

He had been able to feel the interest and attraction from Yosuke as clearly as if the other boy had just confessed to him outright. And the feeling was definitely mutual. Yosuke was so cute. Clumsy, pretty and outgoing… he was totally his type. Because of his rather wolfish secret, he would have to take things slow, but he was really hoping that something might come of it.

To make things even easier, they had been all picked their own seats, and he's ended up with the three students he'd met that morning.

This was one of the best days he'd had. Who would have thought it was possible to have fun at school?

"Who do we have as a homeroom teacher?" he asked, turning so he could see Yosuke, who sat beside him, and the girls, who sat behind them. The classroom itself was even quite quaint, fitting with the country setting.

"Ugh, don't even ask," Chie groaned, throwing her arms and head on the desk.

"We got King Moron," Yosuke lamented. "He'll treat you like shit, but he does that with everyone, so don't take it personally."

"Sounds… great," Yu replied. Still, he was feeling pretty good. Even a grumpy teacher couldn't ruin his good mood.

"Still, even with that old git as a teacher, I'm glad we're in the same class," Yosuke said. "I-I mean, it's just nice to meet another city kid, you know."

Yu smiled in response, but before he could say anything the classroom door rattled open, admitting a rather irritable looking man with buck teeth and a bad suit. King Moron, presumably.

The teacher made his way to the front of the classroom, peering at the students.

"Okay, so, where the hell is the new kid?"

Yu stared at the teacher in surprise, raising his hand tentatively.

"Well, what are you doing over there? Have you got no bloody manners? Get up here!" the teacher yelled.

Yu stood, looking at Yosuke. The other boy simply shrugged.

So this was how the jerk usually talked to his pupils.

When Yu was standing beside the front desk the man turned, giving him a particularly dirty look.

"So, if this hooligan had bothered his ass waiting for me to introduce him, like he should have, you'd already know that his name is Yu Narukami. He's one of those city boys," he said the words as though he was talking about some sort of disgusting slug, "so I suppose that explains his bad manners."

Yu's dominant side was struggling to get out, to teach this asshole a lesson, and he ruthlessly suppressed the urge to shift. He could feel his ears and tail tingling, ready to grow.

"Aren't you supposed to introduce yourself first," Yu pointed out through clenched teeth.

"Hah! Bloody kid's trying to teach me manners!" the teacher scoffed. "Fine. I'm your homeroom teacher, Mr. Morooka, and I won't take any of your crap, so don't even try it."

Yu rolled his eyes, still pissed off.

"Now, the bloody city schools are sending us all the riff raff that they can't be bothered with. Mr. Narukami here is one of those delinquents, so I better not see any of you talking to him," Mr. Morooka stated. "You can sit down now."

"Wait a minute!" Yu growled.

Oh, bloody hell, his wolf wanted nothing more than to rip this jerk's throat out. Yu tried to quell the anger rising within him, surprised at how quickly and thoroughly the teacher had managed to get under his skin. It wasn't just anyone who could rile him like this.

"Where do you get off saying that kind of crap?"

The class gave a collective gasp. It seemed that King Moron was used to getting his own way.

"I'll have you know, you little jerk, that I'm only going by the record sent to us by your last school! They kicked you out because you're nothing but a violent thug! Now, you better not test my patience any further! Sit down!" Morooka's chest was heaving with anger.

Face red with embarrassment, Yu finally did what he was told. His wolf was angry as hell that he'd backed down, but Mr. Morooka was right; he had been suspended from his last school.

He had just met some really cool people, and he couldn't afford to lose this chance. As he sat down he glanced at Yosuke, hoping that the other boy would still talk to him, even though he'd just made an ass of himself.

"Sorry, man," Yosuke whispered. "Now you know why he's called King Moron."

"Did you really beat someone up?" Chie whispered, leaning forward to talk to him.

"Satonaka, shut up!" Morooka yelled, receiving a pissed off glare from Chie, saving Yu from any chance of a conversation.

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"Bet that was one of the longest days you've ever had, huh?" Yosuke asked once the day was finally over.

"I can't believe he was so horrible to you," Yukiko added. "He's always rude, but that was awful! He was just making that up, wasn't he?"

"Actually," Yu sighed, "I was suspended from my last school. A group of guys were picking on this one kid, and I kind of… well… lost my temper."

God, he hoped they still talked to him after this. He knew he sounded like a bully or something, but his wolf nature had gotten the better of him. As a dominant wolf, he had a very strong urge to protect the weaker pack members from abuse, and that urge had simply overrode his good sense. He was glad to have helped one of his classmates, but he had to admit that sending four students to the hospital was a little much.

"Oh. In that case, it sounds like they deserved it," Yukiko answered, surprising the hell out of him. "I don't know what I'd do without Chie to protect me. She's like my knight in shining armour." Yukiko tucked a strand of her ebony hair behind her ear, smiling shyly at her best friend.

"Aw, don't mention it," Chie answered, looking uncharacteristically embarrassed.

Thank God. They weren't running in the opposite direction after all. In fact, they didn't seem to think any differently of him at all.

"Yes! I just remembered tomorrow's Saturday," Yosuke exclaimed. "You guys want to hang out at Junes after school? I think I can get you a discount on the steak, Chie."

"Count me in! What about you, Yukiko?"

"Okay. It sounds fun."

Then Yosuke's eyes were on him, hesitantly checking his reaction.

"I can make it too," Yu answered. Yosuke was so cute, and the faint hint of arousal he was getting from the other was only increasing his own attraction. He hoped he'd get a chance to see him without the girls around.

Yosuke's smile was relieved, and Yu kind of wanted to kiss him right there.

"It's a date!" Chie exclaimed happily.

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Yosuke let himself into his empty house with a sigh. He didn't even know why his parents called this place home. His father spent more time at his work apartment in the city than he did in Inaba, and his mother was always at Junes.

He kicked his shoes of at the door, shuffling into the kitchen to stick his dinner in the microwave. Being on his own all the time kind of sucked. Still, he mused, trying to find the silver lining, at least he got to watch anime on the big screen in the living room without bothering his parents.

He slouched in front of the TV, munching on his mac and cheese. He flipped to D gray-man, kind of zoning out as he ate. His mind kept sliding to Yu. He was so glad now that he crashed his stupid bike. Who knew if they'd have become friends so quickly otherwise? And not getting to know the only hot guy in school would be a tragedy.

Yosuke smiled dreamily. What was it Chie had called lunch tomorrow? A date? God, he hoped so. Hearing about Yu's background only made him sexier. He was like some anime hero, sticking up for those who needed it, no matter the consequences.

Yosuke shook his head, irritated at himself. He'd gone so long with out seeing a handsome guy that his thoughts were getting all fluffy and romantic. He put his bowl in the sink, returning to flop onto the sofa and laze about a little more.

After the D gray-man marathon was over, he flicked around. He heard the word 'Inaba' and stopped flicking. It wasn't often that the tiny town made the news, and there was nothing better on.

"-announcer, Ms. Yamano, was found dead just hours ago in the small town. Police are baffled at the attack."

Yosuke sat up a little straighter. A murder in Inaba? No way! Nothing ever happened here. He focused on the show once again.

"Umm," a dazzled looking police officer started awkwardly, looking cornered by the camera, "you see, we found her body in the middle of a building, which very specifically does not allow animals. However, it looked like she had been mauled to death, like some sort of big dog, maybe even bigger than our police dogs, had just torn her to shreds. But nobody saw any big animals in the area, and we still don't know what else could have caused the wounds."

Wow. That was pretty weird. Yosuke wondered what the hell had happened. He guessed everybody at school would be talking about this tomorrow.

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Okay, so I wasn't sure whether to put this fic in the T or M category. If you think I should change it please let me know!

Also, please review if you liked it! I promise there'll be more going on in future chapters.

Thank you for reading~