Dear children, never believe that fairy tales only happen in books. Although seemingly surreal, keep the thought in your head that there's always a little magic waiting for you. Fairy tales, we've been told, are stories. Stories that we hear every night as our loved ones tuck us in every night.
And tonight, I'll read you another one. But just a little different.
We begin not with the cliche "once upon a time," but instead, with a prince. A boy with midnight hair that shone with a bright hue, eyes a beautiful lightning shock of blue, and a smile that dazzled all who saw it. Definitely the description of A well loved- but spoiled- boy. But, despite that, he was adored by his family, and his kingdom. All over, he was known not only for his looks, but his charisma and generosity as well. The young royal gave to his kingdom, and in return, his people followed him without question. His subjects worshiped the prince without a second thought, having no doubt that he'd be a wonderful ruler to one day keep the peace and prosperity. But unfortunately, the bliss of the people, would turn into heartache soon enough.
The prince's 18th birthday was approaching at a fast pace, meaning it was time for him to take a bride and the crown, the queen anxiously searched for women all over, fearful that her son would pick someone unsuitable for her crown. If anything, she had to be good not only for her son, but her kingdom too. Her fretting, however, was all for naught. The crown prince had no interest in marriage, and absolutely refused to take a wife, hiding when women would come to meet him, or just flat out disrespecting any woman who came out to be courted. Occasionally, the raven would run away from his home, taking a walk through the city in disguise until a guard found him or he came back.
On this particular walk, he decided to trek through the woods. Almost immediately, he spotted a figure on the roadside, unmoving and seemingly lifeless from a distance. He believed it to be a deer at first, thinking it was just a hunt going on and turning to head back home, afraid that he'd be caught by a bullet until he heard a groan. He quickly turned and made his way to the figure only to see a girl in tatters, not wanting to leave her out here in the woods, he rushed her back home, nursing her back to health on his own. From spending so much time with him, the girl asked as many questions as she could, and answered as many as were given to her. Unfortunately however, the prince could not get much info out of the her, but decided that when she got better, he'd allow her to stay in his home. When he told her of the news, she wept for joy, thinking that he meant as a wife. For the young girl, who was so grateful that the prince saved her, had fallen in love with him. She leapt into his arms and tried to kiss him in thanks, but was shoved away immediately. The boy was not pleased, glaring at the girl and explaining that he did not feel that way for her, and he wouldn't feel that way for anyone.
Hurt and heartbroken, the angry girl revealed true self as a fairy, and cast a spell on the boy. "Since you can not love, then fine. I will turn you into something your kingdom and family cannot love." She declared through tears. "A monster." Menacingly, the air around her began to flow as she spoke, causing the entire castle to quake and alert the inhabitants. "Until you can love and be loved in return, you will be stuck as a werewolf. But don't worry dear prince," she smirked evilly as she wiped away her sadness. "I leave the ability to turn human as well. If, you can figure it out at least~" waving her wand, the boy disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke, as so did she, before the guards burst in along with his parents, in a frenzy trying to figure out what was going on. The queen screamed in fear, not seeing a trace of her beloved son, but a hairy beast that now resided in his guests room. Convinced it had killed them both, she ordered the guards to execute it, hiding her face in the king's jacket to console herself. The prince blinked when he came to, looking at his hands to see paws, and blue fur. He turned to the mirror next to the bedside, and saw that indeed, just as she promised, he had been turned into a monster. Out of fear and confusion, the prince dashed out of the door, leaving marks everywhere from his enlarged nails, including on his mother. The young boy did what he only knew would be safe, he left the castle and ran deep into the forest, promising himself that he'd never trust anyone again, and that he would never burden anyone with feelings of love.
He'd never, curse anyone to his fate.
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Four years later...
Yato happily roamed the forest on his own, his wolf ears twitching in excitement and a spring in his step. Gathering and hunting wasn't hard when you got the hang of it, and he definitely had enough time to do so. Happy with his findings and food, the young man climbed up the tree for his favorite pastime, which was usually watching the villagers as they passed through his forest. And there was one particular villager that he was waiting for.
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"Mom, what are you doing?" The boy grumbled unhappily, whining at the fussing his mother did at his clothes. Today was the day little Yukine would see his granny, dressed in a long sleeved white peasant blouse and brown britches, his mother thought he was the picture of he was 19, she still treated him as a little boy, which he resented. His red eyes dimmed in annoyances as she babbled on, pulling on his red cape for him and rambling.
"I'm just trying to make sure you look nice for your grandmother. Do you have everything she needs? Her medicine? Her fruits? Her wine? Her sweets? You know how she loves her sweets lo-"
"Ok mom, I get it!" He shouted, tying his cape strings around his neck. "Yes, I have everything! Now may I GO please, you're the one that's so adamant about me not traveling by myself at nightfall, wouldn't want the big bad wolf to scare me~" he cooed sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he check listed the items in his basket one more time. The village had been having a nasty problem lately with werewolves, a particular ruthless one had been going around and killing the older ones mostly, but no one was safe. Once a month when the full moon hit, Yukine was sent to his grandmother's house to give her snacks and keep her company while the wolf slaughtered as many as he could to satisfy himself. But, the boy had never seen the creature, and didn't really care in the first place. It was probably a silly myth or something his mother made up so he would just go spend time with his grandmother every once in awhile.
"Alright, I'm off!" He shouted, putting his hood over his head and waving bye to his mom. "I'll see you tomorrow! Stay safe, and remember to keep the doors locked!"
"I will! And remember Yukine, stay on the path!" She shouted back, standing in front of her door and waving, she watched him leave with a big smile on her face until he left, sighing in exasperation. "That boy... What am I gonna do with him?"
The raven haired man perked up when he felt a familiar presence walking closer to the tree he was currently resting on, jumping down to greet them. "Well hello there kit~." He greeted, giving him the most mischievous grin he had. Yukine felt the oncoming eye roll start already, wanting nothing more than to get away from this stupid man... Wolf thing. He had been following him for awhile now, claiming to be protecting him from the dangers of the forest. Honestly, the only dangerous thing he saw was the strange man who wore fake cat ears-or whatever the hell they were- on the top of his head, following young boys around. But who was he to judge? "What do you want, mutt?" He asked. Shifting his basket of goodies from one hand to the other. "I have better things to do that don't involve your presence." Yato pouted at the rude remark, his ears drooping in mock sadness. "Must you be so cruel to me? After all, I've saved you countless times~ don't I deserve a little more enthusiasm in a greeting?" The younger boy sighed and stopped in his tracks, whipping around to glare at the idiotic man. "I can guarantee, if I added any more enthusiasm when I saw you, I'd explode." He assured, continuing his walk and mumbling under his breath, "not from joy..."
"You wound me."
"I can cut you more, I have a blade with me." He retorted, not turning to look at him this time and keeping his head straight forward.
"How sweet~ is the little kit gonna mark me as his own?" He asked hopping in front of him, tapping the side of his cheek. "You can cut me right here where everyone can see~."
"You're sick in the head." Yukine argued, pushing the man out the way and continuing to briskly walk on, trying to get there before sundown.
"Lovesick~" he cooed back, adopting a cutesy tone.
"Fuck you."
"Please do~"
"UGH, What did I do to deserve this torture?! He yelled, sharply turning around again only to see an empty spot. "Huh? Where'd he go?" The boy looked around a little bit before shrugging and turning back, thanking his lucky stars the man decided to give up for the day. "Hn, must be the full mo- oof!"
"Yanno, you should really look up more often." Yato said from his spot in front of the screeching boy, hanging upside down from a low tree branch. "WHAT THE EVER LOVING FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" He shouted, falling on his ass and screaming obscenities at him."Look kit, you're at an 11, I'm gonna need you to bring it to a 4." The raven-haired boy replied, dismounting and landing on his feel. "No need to be so loud, you'll scare the poor woodland creatures away."
"Whatever, just get out my way." He got up and dusted himself off, glaring at the man and walking off with a "humph." In return, he smiled and waved, deciding to genuinely leave him be and observe him from the treetops once more. Yukine sighed, looking up and yelling at him. "I know you're there you pervert!"
The man chuckled lightly in response, staying in his hiding space this time. "Go on brat, I don't have all day to babysit you. I have things to do tonight." Yukine rolled his eyes and trudged off, shaking off that lonely feeling he refused to admit was there when Yato left. What did he care anyway? Like he wanted some stupid man following him around… Not like he needed him anyway.
Just in time, sunset rolled around and the blonde was safely in his grandmother's cottage, sipping on tea and eating cookies while she told him stories. They got up and cleaned the mess, barricading the windows and doors before they said their goodnights and gave each other a hug. "Remember to keep your cape on, and the doors locked." The old woman instructed, letting him go and ushering him into the room, giving the boy one last smile before locking and closing his door from the outside. "Goodnight~" she called out once more, slowly making her way to her own room with her hands clasped tightly to her chest in a silent prayer, hoping in her heart that they would get through night.
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The wolf man perched atop another tree, cloaked by the darkness as he watched the clouds part. The moon looked especially beautiful tonight, and he wondered if he had enough control to stay in this form. He never truly knew how to get control. No matter how hard he trained, he always seemed to have those stupid ears that looked more like a cat than a wolf's. Grumbling to himself about his frustration, Yato kept his eyes on the sky, perking up when he heard an unfamiliar howl. It was challenging him, mocking him, taunting him with glee. That howl meant that wolf knew he was there. And this time, he was asking for a fight. The raven growled dangerously, letting out a warning howl of his own as he jumped off his tree, racing off to find the owner of the challenge. This was the 4th time he heard it, and this time, he was going to find out who dared come into his territory and hurt his animals and the village people.
Even if he had to turn into the person he so desperately wanted to run away from.
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A/N: hello all! This is my first YatoxYukine fanfic, and I did try my hardest. I'm trying my hardest to get as many things done before I go back to school. I'm doing two Riren fanfics and this one two. Also for those who follow my I Like The Bartender story, the end of that will be finished as well. I'm not the best at writing, so can you leave a review. Criticism is really appreciated, just not super mean. Even if it's not and you just wanna say something I'll love it. Next chapter should be up by September. Until then~.
