A/N: It's been 8 years since I last touched fan fiction, but when I saw Wolf's Rain for the first time a few months ago, I thought I'd give it a try again. This was inspired by the last sequence in the anime, which segues into the opening song and offers an interpretation of what happens after Kiba attempts to open Paradise. Please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Wolf's Rain. Any original content that resembles real persons or places is purely coincidental.

"Hige, Hige!"

Hige snapped out of his daze as Yuko, the daughter of a local ramen shop bashed him on the head with a ladle. "OW! What was that for?"

"You were out late again last night, weren't you?" Yuko frowned. Hige wiggled his brows suggestively, "But wouldn't you want to know?" Another smack of the ladle followed. "OW! Stop doing that."

"Stop hanging around the shop when you're not working. We don't need your lazy butt for another five hours."

"But I am working...on my pick-up lines." Hige threw up his arms to dodge another swing of Yuko's ladle. "Okay, okay, I'm on my way out." He tossed on his helmet before leaving, "I'll be back for my regular shift later." He looked outside at the pouring rain then dashed out to his bike.

He started the ignition and began to drive aimlessly on the wet streets. On the way, he felt the pangs of hunger set in. "Well, can't fight with that." He turned off the main street and found a parking spot. He jogged to the nearby grocery store to pick up some food and get out of the rain.

"Thank you for your patronage." The door gave an electronic jingle as he walked out with a large paper bag of groceries. He turned down the street towards his bike, munching on some deli meat, no longer bothered by the drizzle.

There were plenty of people walking, despite the overcast weather: a construction worker, an old lady in a plastic rain hood, a student with a colorful umbrella. A dark-haired man came up on his right and briskly passed. For a second, Hige felt the urge to do a double take, but his stomach grumbled and he returned to his snack. Soon he was back at his bike, with the groceries loaded and headed back to his apartment complex.

The rain had almost cleared up by the time Hige pulled up to the shed behind his complex where he was allowed to store his bike. After pulling his bike into the shed and giving it a quick wipe down, he to lock the shed's padlock, he heard a whimper. He whirled around and stopped short.

Standing behind him, in the shadow of the complex was a large, black dog. It approached Hige happily, wagging its tail. Hige knelt down and extended his hand to pat the dog on the head. "Hello..." he paused and checked below, "...girl. What are you doing here?"

The dog's tongue rolled out of its mouth and sat down as Hige started to pet her. He looked around, "Is your owner nearby? I can't imagine that a gorgeous girl like you would be out here on your own." Seeing no one nearby, he shrugged and stood up. Immediately, the dog started to whine.

Hige frowned slightly, "I'm sorry, little lady, but I can't take you inside. It's the house rules." The dog's ears lowered and started whimpering again. Hige felt a tug at his heart strings. He fished in his shopping bag and pulled out some sausages. "Here you go. At least you won't be hungry."

He dropped the sausages for the dog and walked towards the apartment entrance. Just before the dog disappeared from view, he turned around. The dog was sitting on the ground, staring at him with sad eyes. Hige quickly turned back and walked up to his apartment.

After crashing for a few hours, Hige woke up and prepared to go work. Before he left, he had a thought. "That dog wouldn't still be there, right? It's been hours." But against his better reason, he grabbed some more of the sausages and headed down to the shed.

To his surprise, the dog was sitting, waiting for him. "Hey, you're still here." He tossed the sausages down towards the dog. "You know, you're one of the nicest girls I've ever met, you know. You don't complain, you don't scold me, and you seem happy to see me."

He watched as the dog chomped down on the food and his own stomach grumbled. "I could use some food too." He glanced at his watch, realized the time and swore. "I'm late - the boss is going to kill me!"

He rushed to grab his bike and was about to speed away out front, when his grumpy landlord appeared.

"Young man," the landlord called out. Exasperated, Hige stopped his bike.

"Yes, Mr. Tanaka, sir!" He saluted him enthusiastically.

"Don't fool with me, young man." The landlord glanced around and then jabbed a finger at him. "You haven't seen any dogs around here, have you?"

Hige thought immediately about his new companion. "No sir, not a single dog sir."

Mr. Tanaka huffed. "There have been reports about a stray dog around. If I see any dogs, I'll call in the dog catchers faster than a mangy cur can bark."

Uncomfortable, Hige shifted on his bike, "Mr. Tanaka, I'm sorry, but I'm in a hurry - I'm late for my job." He started his bike and drove off.

"You're late again, Hige!" His boss scowled at Hige as he rushed through the doors of the ramen shop. "If you come in late, one more time, I'm going to fire you."

"Sorry, boss." Hige took off his helmet and grinned, "I promise it won't happen again."

"It better not." The boss grumbled as he went back to making ramen.

Yuko hauled some ramen onto one of the tables. "Hey Hige, here's some orders for you to take out."

"What, already?" He looked at the list of deliveries. "Hey, there are 15 orders here!"

She smirked, "You were late, what did you expect?"

Groaning, Hige grabbed the food and headed out.

"Thank you for your business." Hige bowed to his last customers as they shut the door.

He rolled his shoulder and tilted his neck to the side, "Ah, finally done. The boss was really working me hard today." Hopping back on his bike, he headed back to the shop.

It was late when he arrived, but all the female employees were sitting outside in the glow of the restaurant's windows. "What's going on?"

Yuko turned around, "Is this dog yours, Hige?"

Hige looked down and saw the black dog wagging her tail under the affection of all the waitresses. One of them giggled as the dog licked her face. "She's really pretty Hige, where did you find her?"

"Why do you think she's my dog?"

"She doesn't belong to one of us and all the other delivery boys have already left. Therefore, she must be your dog." Yuko gave him a teasing look, "I don't think she's your usual type for girlfriends."

"You're just jealous," he said jokingly. Hige handed over his delivery things to Yuko and started his bike. "Tell boss that I'll be on time tomorrow."

As he prepared to leave, the dog trotted over to his bike and stood, waiting. Yuko put her hands on hips, "Well, I hope she lasts longer than your last girlfriend."

Hige dropped his head in defeat. "It's not like that - she's just a stray that's hanging around my apartment." He slowly pulled away and the dog followed just behind him. He could hear the giggles of the waitresses and he started home.

"You're going to get me in trouble, you know." He rebuked the dog, who whined. He stopped the bike, "I didn't really mean that. You're a good girl, okay?" The dog yapped and thunder rumbled ominously overhead.

"It looks like the good weather isn't going to last. We better get going." He glanced at the dog, "Want to go for a run, girl?" The dog barked happily.

By the time they approached the apartment complex, it was raining heavily. Hige went around back to the shed where he stored his bike. He rummaged in his pockets for the keys to the padlock.

"I'm sorry I can't bring you inside, but you can stay here for tonight. At least it's out of the rain." He found the key and unlocked the shed. After walking his bike into the building, he dropped his bag on the floor and pulled out some food more food.

He gestured to the dog, "Here, girl. You can stay here. It's warm and dry." The dog obediently trotted into the shed and started to munch on the food.

Hige heard footsteps and quickly packed up his things and closed the door.

A moment later, the landlord shone a flashlight in his face. "What are you doing out here so late?"

"I'm sorry, sir. I just got back from my job. I was putting my bike away." Hige leaned against the door to the shed, to make sure it was securely closed. "Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?"

The grizzled old man looked at him suspiciously. "Just don't hang around outside at night. It makes the complex look bad."

Hige nodded enthusiastically, "Yes, sir." He walked away from the shed to avoid drawing more attention to the dog's hiding place. He briskly jogged into the building. Once in the elevator, he sighed.

With the landlord on the lookout, he wouldn't be able to visit the dog. Hopefully she'd be okay for the night.

Hige leapt out of bed the next morning. He rushed through a morning routine and raced downstairs with some breakfast for the dog. As he ran into the back of the building, he stopped. The door to the shed was swinging open in the breeze. Fear welled up inside.

"Girl? Are you in there?" He ran up to the shed, but it was empty.

"Oh, Hige, you're early again." Yuko looked surprised and Hige dashed in the door. "I told you not to hang around the shop before hours-"

"Have you seen the dog that was here yesterday?" Hige interrupted her "I can't seem to find her anywhere."

"Was she near your apartment?" Yuko stopped what she was doing. "Did you check the nearby parks? Where did you find her originally? Maybe she went back there?"

Hige nodded, "Thanks, Yuko! Please let boss know that if he has to fire me, I'm prepared."

Yuko smacked him on the back of the head, "Don't worry about that. Just go! There are catchers on the street, you know."

He smiled, "Thanks, Yuko." Then he ran back out.

Unfortunately, the dog wasn't to be found. There was no trace of her near the ramen shop or any of the nearby parks. Even the alley by the grocery was empty. Without a clue as to where she would go, Hige decided to try back at the apartment. Maybe she had returned home.

But if that was the case, she might have already been caught by the catchers. With this thought, Hige pushed more speed from his bike as he raced back to the apartment complex. He could see the landlord out front.

"Mr. Tanaka!" Hige screeched to a halt in front of the landlord, who was sweeping. "Have you seen a dog around?"

Mr. Tanaka pointed a finger at him, "I knew it was you! You were keeping a dog all along!"

"Then you've seen it?" Hige asked frantically. "Do you know where it went?"

"Know where it went? Of course I know where it went. I called the dog catchers and they took it away several hours ago." He scowled at Hige. "Now we need to talk about your tenancy."

Alarmed, Hige's eyes widened. If she went to the shelter hours ago, then she could be in trouble if there wasn't space in the shelter. He swung his bike around and opened the throttle.

"Where are you going?" Mr. Tanaka shouted as Hige peeled away in a cloud of dust. "Come back here!" When Hige didn't stop, Mr. Tanaka called out his final warning: "You are out of this complex, do you hear me? Find somewhere else to live!"

But Hige was already gone.

Hige pulled up the shelter and nearly tripped over himself running into the lobby. Quickly glancing around, he located the receptionist. "Have you had a black dog come in today? It would have been only a few hours ago."

The receptionist leaned back from his breathless query. "I'm not sure. I believe there were a few strays that were brought in. Is the dog yours?"

"No." Hige paused. "It belongs to my friend."

"Would the dog have any identification?" The receptionist started clacking away on her computer.

"No." Hige felt an uneasy feeling growing in his stomach.

"Then it would have been marked as a stray. I'll check to see if a dog matching your description was brought in." She pulled up the phone. "Hi, have there been any black strays that came in today?" She blinked. "I see. Thanks for your help."

She hung up the phone. "There was a black dog that came in today." Hige felt his spirits rise. "But, it was very sick, so it was put down because we didn't have the space."

He slumped onto the counter. This couldn't be happening.

The receptionist placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm really sorry. If you'd only come in a bit earlier...Is there anything else I can do?"

"There's nothing else. Thank you for checking." Shaking his head, he trudged out of the shelter. Almost in a trance, he slid onto his bike and drove away. He started heading home, when he remembered that he'd been kicked out earlier. Without anywhere to go, he found himself driving aimlessly until he ran out of gas. After parking his bike, he drifted over to a nearby park, where he dropped onto a bench.

Why was he so hung up over this dog? It was only a stray that had appeared a couple of days ago. There was no reason for him to be this attached.

And yet, there was something about that dog that was so comforting. For the first time since he got to the city, it had felt like he'd found a kindred spirit. Hige blinked as his eyes stung with tears. "This is pathetic; I'm moping over the loss of some dog that I just met yesterday."

He rested his head in his hands and watched as a few lone tears dropped into the dirt.

Then, something warm brushed by his leg. He lifted his head only to see a familiar pair of bright, blue eyes.

He threw his arms around the dog's neck and breathed a sigh of relief, "You're okay!"

The dog nuzzled his shoulder in response. "I thought you were gone." He stroked the soft, black fur, gripping the dog tightly. "I'm never letting you out of my sight again."

Suddenly, a female voice called out: "Sora! Where are you Sora?"

The dog barked, struggling in Hige's arms. He released her, but the dog just continued barking. A few seconds later, a young woman with dark hair and tanned skin appeared with a leash in hand.

"Stop running off, Sora. That's how you got lost in the first place." She bent down to reattach the leash on the collar. Standing up she smiled, "I'm sorry if Sora is bothering you. She's super friendly with people."

Hige smiled at Sora, "Sora is your dog? I thought she was a stray when I found her in my backyard yesterday."

The young woman's bright blue eyes widened in surprise, "You were the one taking care of Sora? I wondered why she didn't look starved when she came home this morning." She reached out her hand, "Thank you so much….um…"

Shaking her hand, Hige introduced himself, "My name is Hige."

"Thank you Hige, for taking care of Sora. I was so worried when I lost her." She looked down at Blue, who was prancing happily at their feet. "Would you like to come to my house for dinner? It's the least I can do to repay you." When Hige looked like he was about to protest, she took his hand again. "I won't let you say no."

Hige grinned. "That sounds great. I'd love that. What did you say your name was?"

The girl laughed, "I didn't. My name's Hana, but my friends call me Blue."