Ame had returned home for the afternoon after a day of learning on the mountains from Sensei's teachings. The wolf boy was destined to one day take over in the wise fox's place as Guardian of the mountain – Ame had accepted that for his future already. In truth, he couldn't see himself doing anything else. Not anything in the society humans have. He couldn't settle for a teacher, researcher, gardener, or anything for that matter. Ame doesn't belong with the civilization of humans, he knew that.

Yuki, his older sister was different from him in that way. She was happy to fit in with the human side of herself; she was good at being one. Part of Ame would never truly accept this, he believed Yuki to be a true wolf at heart – just as she was when they were younger. She used to take pride in the animal she was. But not anymore, that seemed like it was so long ago now.

Upon stepping soundlessly into the open doorway, Ame paused when the sound of his sister's whimpering was heard echoing through the expanse of the house. His mother's faint voice could be heard, too. It sounded like they were in the back room where the siblings slept. Ame pondered, hesitant about interrupting this emotional rollercoaster his mother was currently dealing with. He felt so distant from his sister these days; he wasn't sure what help he could be.

When the boy took a single step forward, the wooden floorboard creaked from under him, alerting the other house members of his presence.

"Ame?" Hana's voice called through the other end of the house. There was no getting out of it now, it seemed.

"Yeah, mom, it's me." Ame answered to her, walking towards the source where the two girls were. Peaking in, he was met with the sight of his mother who was brushing a comforting hand on the girl hiding under her blankets, the overlay moving with the trembling of Yuki's sobs. She was home early today from school so in that case, something must have happened, he figured.

"What's going on?" Ame asked, remaining standing in the opening of the doorway. He wanted to offer his sister some space as mom was no doubt overwhelming her with the refusal to leave her alone. Yuki may disregard the wolf half of herself, but she was and is a wolf and she is part of his pack. It was only natural as her brother – he would display concern.

Hana sighed, her hues rising to meet with her son's. Her eyes expressed sadness, but also hinted that of disappointment, "Yuki had an accident. She was under a lot of pressure… so I suppose she hurt a boy in her class,"

"What?" Ame said this as if he did not hear her, surprise apparent in his tone as he stepped into the scope of the room now.

This caused Yuki to ruffle around under the covers as she shifted, muffled sounds continuing to emit from under the layer of the blanket she used to hide her shame. "I'm not sure whether or not he was being honest, but when I came by the office to resolve the situation, he claimed that it was a wolf who scratched him,"

All Ame thought to do was stare dumbfounded towards his mother, brown orbs widened with the news of this. What did this mean? Would they have to leave this place now? If that was the case, they would just have to leave without him. He's already found his place.

"So what does this mean? Is… Is Yuki going to get into trouble? Did they believe him?" Ame finally spoke up with questions, his voice becoming louder with each one that followed.

Hana raised a finger against her lips as to quiet him down, continuing to tend to a distraught Yuki with comforting strokes on her upper back. "I think everything's going to be fine. He seemed like a nice boy and the principal handled the situation with his mother well, especially after his explanation."

"I'm so sorry mom. I messed up," Yuki muttered from under the blankets between her sniffles.

Ame's gaze flickered down to the fort of blankets his sister buried herself in. It would seem Yuki's wolf nature got the better of her today. Ame knew it was still in there somewhere. He wondered if she would be interested in training with Sensei too, she could surely use the knowledge. Shaking his head, the boy would kneel so that he was closer leveled with Yuki, silently observing the shaken frame of her. Lately he was so in-touch with his wolf-side, that his human emotion was slowly fading from his being. Sometimes, his humanoid body felt merely like a shell.

"You don't need to apologize anymore, honey. I'm not upset at you. Things will go back to normal in no time, you'll see." Hana reassured her daughter, withdrawing her hand so that Yuki had the chance to collect herself on her own.

And then Ame did something that both siblings dared not to do in a long time, Hana couldn't remember the last time she had witnessed it. There was Ame, scooting close beside his older sister before his arm hesitantly extended around her in his own form of comfort. Through the blanket, the warmth of his chest was soothing against her back – she didn't struggle. She didn't reject the affection. She allowed it.

"You'll be okay, Yuki, now rest up." Ame's unusual soft tone rang through her ears and with it, her trembling slowly subsided. No one else understood the struggle of handling that side of herself than Ame did. His presence brought solace to her pain.

Hana would monitor her children, a smile forming on her lips at the display. It was sweet to witness them supporting one another when they had become distant as the years progressed, because Ame and Yuki were opposites from the beginning. And then it became clear, she was no longer needed at this moment.

Yuki decided to take some time off of school. Everyone had heard rumors that someone 'beat him up' and 'attacked' him and it was not so secretive that she was the cause when all her classmates whispered about the incident while staring back at her with a variety of looks. She was not ready to possibly face that again. Not when she was already feeling enough guilt for what she had done. Souhei may have covered up for her, or maybe he actually believed it was a random wolf, but that didn't matter. The damage was already done. She spent most of her time isolating herself in the sleeping room or in the bath barrel, much to Hana's concern.

Meanwhile, Ame continued to spend most of his time up on the mountain. At this point, he was able to communicate with other animals on the land fairly well. He was experienced in the terms of wolf standards, even grown strong enough to take down other predators that challenge him. However, something about Sensei was off. He injured his leg and now he possesses nowhere near as much endurance as before. Ame hoped it would heal with time, until then he would take care of the fox and hunt food for him until the wise one recovers.

Sensei had communicated with the wolf that he was dismissing his aid early today, insisting he return home and leave him in peace. Ame was disappointed by this, but ultimately he obeyed his wish. When he reached the bottom of the mountain, he reverted to human form as to prevent the risk of any other humans from seeing him as an animal. Following the dirt path home, he wasn't walking for long before he spotted a figure in the distance. Ame examined the person as he got closer, and soon his vision could see that it was a boy – he looked about Yuki's age. This other boy was seemingly staring thoughtfully at the residence, holding a stack of papers clenched in his hands.

Ame wasn't sure if he should say something, after all he had no idea who this person was. Nor was his scent familiar, and so far his presence was unnoticed by the other boy. The sun was gleaming down as it was soon setting, the temperature was humid and the sounds of cicada bugs sang through the hoard of trees. All the while, the boy continued to observe the stranger, waiting for any sort of sign or indication as to what he's here for.

But nothing, all he could sense from the other was a façade of nervousness. Whatever he came here to do, it's obvious he was hesitant. Finally, Ame proceeded towards the front of his house, his steps that shuffled in the dirt were heard by the other now, and he swiftly turned on his shoes to face Ame. That's when the wolf boy saw it, a cotton bandage taped to his ear. Could this be…?

"Oh, hey there! Is Yuki home?" The boy asked, the words slipped past his lips messily.

Ame continued to stare blankly toward him, though with his question a brow would arch upward. Did he come here to further confront Yuki? This had to be the boy she harmed, "She's not home." He answered with a lie.

Souhei's shoulders fell, the smile he wore on his lips straightening. There was no indication whether or not he believed Ame, but he still understood that he wouldn't be seeing her today. "I see… Bummer,"

The younger boy could only nod; he was not sure what else he should say. It was clear he already disappointed him. "Is there something you need?"

Souhei's head would tilt upward from the ground to gaze upon Ame, nodding himself before passing the papers in his hands toward him, "This is the classwork Yuki's been missing, thought I'd bring it to her so she doesn't fall behind when she decides to come back to school. Let her know it's from Souhei, okay?" A small smile formed upon his face again.

"Uh," Ame began, taken aback by the boy's reasoning for coming here. It was unexpected, wasn't he angry at Yuki? Perhaps he really did believe it was a wolf that attacked him that day. "Sure, thanks. I'll let her know." He would take the papers from Souhei's hands, averting his gaze to the dirt afterward.

There was an unwieldy silence between the two, both of them standing there with unknowingness about the situation. The fact was, Souhei was nice, clearly pleasant and somehow that made Ame feel indifferent.

"Weird," Souhei's voice then broke the silence, and when Ame's hues shifted to look at the taller boy again, he found Souhei was now gazing towards the opening of the countryside home.

"Huh?" Ame was confused.

"Yuki said you guys didn't have a dog, but I can really smell the odor of one coming from your house… and you. Kind of strange,"

Ame's form would tense up from where he stood, but the other boy would simply lift his shoulders into a shrug before he turned to start walking back down the dirt path. "Well, see ya' later!" He raised his hand to offer him a parting wave, to which, Ame would return even though it was unseen.

"Yeah…Bye." He replied with a lowly voice that sounded of almost a whisper.