Troublesome.

That just about summed up Maki's thoughts on the matter. The redhead drummed her fingers on the coffee table while she waited for the other girl – the werewolf – to finish doing whatever it was she had to do to be ready for the vet.

She huffed in irritation at the thought. Werewolves, seriously? This was the last time she helped a stray dog. What was next, vampires? She'd worked too hard getting good grades for her life to suddenly become a terrible fantasy novel.

Even if, just a little, it was fascinating…..it was still too much of a bother to get involved with. She'd take Nico to the vet, apologize for the trouble, then drop her off and wash her hands of her for the rest of their natural lives.

'…Do werewolves have a different lifespan than humans? Is it shorter, or….' Maki stiffened and cut off her train of thought there. Damn it. She was not getting involved.

Absentmindedly, she twirled a strand of hair around her finger until, finally, the bathroom door re-opened.

Though she more than half-expected a completely human girl to walk out that door, she was proven wrong when the 'dog' from the night prior strode out, looking just a touch more irritated than usual.

"Ah. I guess you were telling the truth…." Maki shifted uncomfortably when her companion glared up at her in response. She rubbed the back of her neck and opted to just head for the front already. "I get it, I get it. I'm sorry I doubted you, or whatever."

This earned her two, maybe three tail wags, but it stopped as soon as the shapeshifter noticed the rope from the night prior. Then she shot the redhead a dour look.

"Not until the vet's office." She assured her. "I'm just pretty sure there's a rule about leashes there, and I don't want to get in trouble."

Like sitting in a car with a pissed-off werewolf wasn't trouble enough, anyways. Maki grumbled something about not having the patience for weird shit under her breath while she opened the door.

"Ugh, just get in the car." She gestured to the vehicle in question as soon as they got outside.

Nico didn't budge. The wolf-girl was eyeing the car like it was going to rev up and eat her. Fair, she supposed, considering she'd been hit by one recently, but…"Come on, get in the car, Nico."

The werewolf pretended not to hear, instead taking extreme interest in Maki's shoe.

"Are you serious?! We're going to be late!" Another non-response. Nico sat down and averted her eyes, looking anywhere but at the redhead. Maki moved forward to try and push her, but quickly backed off when she got growled at - she did not want those teeth anywhere near her limbs.

It probably wouldn't have mattered much anyways; Maki was strong but Nico was around the size of one of those huge, great-dane-looking dogs, only with longer fur. Easily a solid hundred pounds – nothing she could ever hope to pick up if Nico was going to be squirming and growling the whole time.

The nurse grunted in frustration. "Nico. Get in the car."

This time, she got a low-pitched whine. "Oh my god, just get in the car! I am absolutely positive you've been in a car before. You were in a car yesterday. Suck it the hell up and get in!"

Nico yawned.

"Unfuckingbelievable."

Maki re-emerged from her house for 'get in the fucking car already, you asshole shapeshifter: round two' with a bag of cut up chicken strips in hand. Bribery couldn't fail, right? She made sure to show off the treats (and noted that Nico was definitely just as hungry as she was last night) and then made a show of opening the passenger side door, setting a treat down on the seat, and then getting into the other side of the car.

After a bout of pacing, the werewolf attempted to get to it without jumping in all the way, and failed. Then she set her paws on the seat, got on her hind legs, was she finally fucking getting in – Nico leaned in just far enough to take the meat, then hopped right back out.

She seriously considered the possibility of making a rug out of her.

After one more attempt, and a hefty shove when Nico was halfway in already, she finally managed to force her into the fucking seat. Maki was never doing that again. She huffed as she got into the front seat, buckled herself, and started for the vet's office. "You are such an asshole, Yazawa."

The asshole in question yawned again, then laid her head on Maki's lap.

It was a little harder to be mad after that.

And also a little harder to drive.

It took around twenty minutes to get there, and while obviously agitated, there wasn't a big chase or fuss involved with slipping the rope collar back onto her new 'dog'. Not like the one that went on last night, anyways. Maki almost groaned when she recalled the near-hour it took to actually get Nico into her backyard – only to learn it was a wasted effort in the morning, when she caught a decidedly human girl scrambling away from the scene, collar long-removed.

The desk clerk, a young, fresh-out-of-college-looking woman, swallowed a bit nervously when Maki approached. "O-oh. Is this the dog you called in last night? It seems…bigger, than I would have expected for a husky…." She laughed nervously.

Maki glanced down at Nico, who seemed to be almost gloating. "Ummm…..Yeah, I think it's a mixed breed. I'm not really an expert on them."

"Okay…." The clerk said, uncertainly. "The vet will take care of it. Please proceed to the back room."

"Thank you." The redhead said politely.

Nico growled at the lady on their way past and she looked like she wanted to crawl under the desk. Maki jerked at the collar. "That was rude," She scolded.

Then she growled at her, too.

Maki no longer felt guilty about bringing her to the vet, and handed the makeshift leash over to them as soon as they entered the back. "Careful, I think it's a little grouchy. You might need a muzzle."

"Good idea. You can never tell with strays…" The vet launched into an explanation on what she was going to be doing, why it was a good idea to exercise caution around stray animals, and what type of dog she thought it might be while Maki stuck her tongue out at the werewolf while the vet was turned around.

After an uncomfortable half hour of answering questions vaguely, assuring the vet that no, this was not her dog so she had no idea that it was actually some sort of wolf hybrid, attempting to appeal to her sense of empathy by saying Nico was actually really sweet, and couldn't they just look for the owner instead of calling the game department to collect a wild animal when this was clearly a tame one, and then checking her phone very frequently, they were free to go.

They made it a good three minutes into the car trip when Nico once again crawled into the front seat, this time throwing something at her on the way. She could guess what it was. "A muzzle? I should kill you for that!"

"That's illegal." Maki replied bluntly, only glancing over at the other girl a minute or two later when they stopped at a light. "I didn't know you could change back so quickly."

Nico crossed her arms and 'hmmpphed'. "I never said I was done when I hopped up here, did I?"

She tried very hard not to think about what she'd have looked like between stages like that, and instead coughed into her elbow to clear her throat. "Ahem. Where's your house?"

"What do you need to know that for?! And I'm the stalker?" The black-haired girl seemed almost offended.

Maki huffed. "I'm going to drop you off at your house, idiot. Your leg is still busted, even if you insist on putting weight on it."

"Oh." Nico blushed, embarrassed. "Eheh, now that you mention it, my leg does hurt…maybe walking around isn't such a great idea."

"No wonder you got hit by a car..." The redhead grumbled. "You at least kept the crutches, right? I don't like the idea of wasting more medical supplies on you if you're just going to throw them away, but you should really hang on to those in the very least."

"H-hey, I kept them! What do you take me for?! It wasn't like it was my idea to take the bandages off, either! You just need more flexible bandages." Nico grumbled back, pointedly looking away from the other girl.

Maki deadpanned. "I'm sorry we didn't stock the material with werewolves in mind."

They went back and forth like that for a few minutes until, frustrated, Maki just pulled over on the side of the road and turned to look at Nico expectantly. "Look, are you going to tell me how to get to your house or not? I'm trying to be nice, here."

Nico laughed sheepishly. "Oh, yeah, that's what we were talking about. I live in Akihabara, I'll give you directions as we go."

Finally. Letting out a sigh of relief, she pulled back onto the road and followed the directions. When they made it to her house, she expected to just drop her off and be on her way, but, to her eternal surprise, Nico actually invited her inside.

"Wait, seriously?" She asked, dubiously.

She nodded. "Well, even if you were being really annoying this morning," Maki elected to ignore that comment and hope for Nico's sake a compliment was coming after it, "You did still help me out last night. And I did eat your food. So, what I'm saying is, come in and have lunch with me, so we'll be even."

"Oh. U-umm…" Maki took a moment to consider it.

'It…has been a while since I hung out with someone…' She thought idly, then shook her head and nodded. "Sure, why not."

Nico grinned a bit, and nodded sharply. "Alright! Watch your step when you come in, Cotarou always leaves his toys on the floor."

"Noted…" Maki replied, quietly. How young were Nico's siblings again? At the hospital she mentioned the oldest was around twelve….but she never knew how to act around kids…..she was starting to have her doubts about this lunch date. Or, get-together! Date was too intimate, but if it happened more than once she guessed it could be considered a –

The redhead snapped herself out of that traitorous train of thought just in time for Nico to finish unlocking the door and for three kids to spill out at her feet.

"Nico! Nico! Nico!"

"I was so worrrrriiiiiiieeeddddddd! Nicooooooo!"

"Worried!"

Wow, they talked fast. At the same time. Before Maki had the opportunity to slip back into her car, one of them noticed her – the younger looking girl. "Cocoro! Look! Nico brought a lady!"

"Wait, what?" The older-younger sister looked in her direction too. And then the boy.

Maki nervously tugged at her jacket collar. "Uhmm…..hi….?"

Nico looked like she'd just been told the sky was purple. "'Uhm, hi'?" She repeated, incredulously. Before Maki got a chance to give her a snarky response, something clicked for the second-youngest sibling and she abruptly launched herself at Maki.

"You're the one who caught Nico! How could you?!" She flinched when she felt the girl pounding away at her legs. It didn't hurt,but…..

Well, now she was just standing around in the driveway with a swarm of children at her feet and probably the most awkward expression possible. Nico looked like she was getting ready to piss herself laughing, but she held it in, presumably to encourage her siblings.

"Uh…..ummmmm…" Maki rubbed the back of her head sheepishly and tried to get the kids' attention. When one of them finally stopped to look up at her, she slowly, slowly sank to her knees, then to the side, and, when the boy moved out of the way, onto the ground. "Umm…..you've defeated me….oh no…..?"

She refrained from sighing in relief when the trio cheered and moved away from her. "Close one …." Maki muttered.

Now Nico found the time to laugh at her. "A-are you – are you always like this around kids?!"

She flushed red, feeling more embarrassed than she really had any cause to be. "Shut up, I don't have any younger siblings. How am I supposed to know what to do with kids?"

"Most people would call it common sense." The older girl pointed out, smirking. Maki refused to acknowledge that point and instead looked away. "But, you didn't do a terrible job." She gestured to her siblings, who were celebrating their 'victory'.

"Oh. That's good, right?"

The older girl rolled her eyes. "Yes, it's good. Come on, let's clear this up."

After a good ten minutes spent explaining to the kids that Maki was not a punching bag or an evil scientist, the trio finally seemed ready to be friendly with her. "You're a doctor, right?" The second oldest one asked. Cocoa, she thought absently. She was pretty sure that was this one's name.

"Nurse, actually." Practically still an intern, to be even more specific…

"Ahuh. So, a doctor." The girl repeated.

Maki smiled in that way people smile when they don't feel like correcting kids. "Sure."

"Then you must be the person who saved Nico from that car! How'd you do it?! Cars are her only weakness!"

Her smile faltered, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Nico go stiff by the kitchen counter. Maki closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Nico Yazawa," She said, 'pleasantly'. "Does she mean to tell me….you've been hit by a car….more than once?"

"Errr…..no?" Nico replied, hesitantly.

Her sibling, the oldest one, laughed. "What are you talking about! You've come home whining about it at least six times! Cars are Nico's kryptonite! And locked doors." She added, looking uncertain. " 'Cept, the locked doors are on purpose, cars aren't. Well, people drive them on purpose, but they don't hit Nico on purpose because that would be just plain –"

"Nico…"Maki growled.

Nico flinched. "….hospital bills are expensive, and I heal fast enough anyways, so…."

"You idiot!"

After a small chase and a lengthy discussion about why it was a terrible idea to leave concussions (and or broken limbs) untreated, they settled down. And they ate dinner like a mostly normal group of people.

A mostly normal group of people, consisting of: one tired and exasperated nurse, a werewolf, a twelve-year old eating like the most mature person at the table, a ten year old using her hands instead of utensils because she was 'training to touch guts and stuff like a doctor' and a six year old pounding the spaghetti with a toy hammer instead of eating it.

….It was probably the nicest lunch she'd ever had.

Not that she'd tell any of them that, of course. Of course, after lunch turned into 'until dinner' because suddenly one of the kids was fascinated with doctors and asked – more like demanded – to see an operation. And then they got board games out, and never put them away, because Maki didn't know how to play around five of them and Cocoro was staring at her like she was a national fucking treasure.

It wound up with a visit lasting around four hours longer than she expected (but, to be fair, her initial estimate was zero hours, she noted dryly), she finally made it to the door after Nico rounded up her siblings for movie night. The black-haired girl gave her a little shove at the doorway. "And stay out." She followed this by sticking her tongue out at her.

"…And here I was starting to think you actually resembled a responsible adult." She deadpanned. Nico didn't even falter. Maki rolled her eyes. "Sorry for intruding so long. I hadn't realized it was a crime to be new to that 'Chutes and Ladders' game."

"Oh, it's not. Just when you do it." She snickered, then propped herself up against the doorway. "Really though, I think they like you. If you're not careful I might just jump your fence and kidnap you again…."

"I can and will make a higher fence." Maki said, bluntly.

Nico winced. "O-or, you could just come over some other time…..if you get tired of like, circle-jerking it in your mansion or whatever, I mean. Not that I actually want you to come back to my house, but, it can't be helped, you know? Sometimes people just can't get enough of the world-class host Nico –"

"If I feel like it, I'll call you. Goodnight, Nico."

She smirked when she noted she hadn't heard the door close yet by the time she got back to her car and pulled out of the driveway.

It felt good to have the last word.

…wait, shit, did she ever even get her phone number? Maki considered turning around. Then decided, abruptly, she'd rather die than do that and would instead have to find some other way.

Yeah. Regardless, she was flustered the whole way home. She might've thought that out a little better...but, what's done is done.

Waiting for her when she returned, there was a car parked outside her house. She thought it looked vaguely familiar. Before she could put her finger on it, or even really work out any reason for it being there, someone she did recognize got up from sitting on the curb, scooping up what seemed to be a deck of cards as she did.

"Oh. You're Nico's friend, right? I just dropped her off." Well, 'just' being a bit of an overstatement.

Idly, she wondered why Nozomi hadn't just called Nico, and how long she'd been here. Nico had been home for almost four hours, so it was certainly a little late to be worried about her location…..

"It's no trouble. I only just got here myself." The other girl replied easily, walking forward until they were talking face to face. "This may sound strange, but, I was actually hoping you could answer a question for me?"

"You're right. It does sound strange." Maki said dryly. But, Nozomi had been nothing if not polite, and Maki would, very tentatively and very reluctantly, consider herself friends with Nico now…and, Nozomi was apparently Nico's friend, too, so….She guessed, for the sake of politeness, she could entertain a question or two. The girl probably just wanted some simple medical information, anyways. "But, I guess I don't have a problem with it. Shoot."

Nozomi smiled amicably. "Thank you."

Maki shrugged, feeling a little awkward with all the politeness going around. It was such a huge contrast to Nico's attitude. How were these two friends? "No problem. What was it you wanted to ask?"

The other girl leaned back a little, rocking on the heels of her feet and tapping a finger to her chin thoughtfully . "Maki, you….you haven't noticed anything strange about Nico, have you?"

She was prepared for a question, but not that kind. Maki jolted a little in surprise. Why would Nozomi be asking questions about her own friend? Did she expect Maki to know something?

The only strange thing Nozomi might not know about Nico was….oh.

Oh no.

If it were possible to break into a cold sweat in an instant, Maki would say that's what she did. Instead, she just rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, trying to warm up her suddenly clammy hands. Well, she should probably keep the werewolf thing a secret, right? Yes, of course she should. "N-no, Nico seems to be in good health. Aside from the obvious, anyways."

Nozomi smiled again. It seemed more intimidating somehow. "Oh, but, you know that's not what I'm talking about, right?" She cocked her head to the side, looking as if she was evaluating the younger girl. "Judging from your face, I'd say there's something much more interesting about Nicocchi that you just don't feel like telling me."

"Look, she's your friend. If you think something is up, why not just ask her?" Maki shot back, trying her best to appear unaffected.

"Aww, but Nico is so stubborn. She never tells me anything. Like when she needs help with babysitting….what grade she got on her tests…where she goes every full moon." Nozomi grinned widely when she noticed Maki flinch at the last bit. "She's a werewolf, right?"

"Werewolves aren't real." She denied flatly.

The taller girl made a 'tsk' noise. "You're a stubborn one too, aren't you? Ah, but, I guess I got what I needed. Thank you, Maki."

Nozomi looked like she was getting ready to get back into her car. Maki wondered nervously if she should intervene. The answer was probably yes. "W-wait! What are you going to do?"

She shrugged. "Well, werewolves are pretty dangerous, aren't they? I should probably make sure everyone is safe, don't you agree?"

Maki twirled a strand of hair anxiously, wrapping it around her finger and then uncurling it again. "Actually, I….I'd have to disagree. You should really just leave her alone. Nico is fine."

"Ah, so you will admit you know it!"

She crossed her arms. "I feel like you missed the point of that sentence."

Nozomi waved it off. "Oh, no, I understood. I agree with you, too, but rules are rules! I can't exactly, well, leave you wandering around with knowledge of this sort of thing, you know. There's training and stuff. Why do you think I bothered coming all the way to your house?"

This was it. Her life had officially become a shitty fantasy novel. What next, was she going to be forced to quit her job and join the fucking men in black just for helping a 'stray dog'?

Maki made the most disgruntled face she could muster and reluctantly got into the car for god knows why, other than merely not wanting to know what would happen if she refused, and Nozomi giggled.

"Calm down, you grump. I'm just teasing you. I'd say you passed, so I'll explain: I just came here to make sure you weren't the type to rat Nico out - I already knew."

Maki flushed, growing embarrassed. This was all a joke?! "You could have opened with that, you know!" She said, irritably. "You made it sound like you were going to kill her!"

"And you made it sound like you planned to stop me." Nozomi replied easily, stopping the younger girl in her tracks. "I'd say that makes you a pretty good friend. Nico would be so proud of you! Like me!"

The redhead looked away awkwardly. What was with this girl? Dead serious and threatening one minute, bubbly and cheerful the next? She could definitely make it as an actor, that was for sure. "Why do I still have to be in your car, then?"

Once again, the older girl waved her statement off. "Oh, you'll find out soon. Don't worry. I was just….organizing a meeting," She said resolutely. Then she muffled another laugh. "I was actually planning on taking this little prank a little further, but your face was so funny I broke character. I just wanted to pinch your pouting little cheeks.."

Maki flushed again. "Why do you act like I'm five?"

"You're two years younger than me, it's basically the same thing." She said breezily. "Lighten up a little, Maki!"

"My mom is two years younger than my dad but I hardly think he thinks she's five." Maki shot back, flatly. 'Lighten up', really?

"That's different, they're adults. You'll understand when you're older!"

"I'm eighteen years old! I am an adult! So are you!"

"Those are trivial details, really."

The nurse sighed heavily. Of course Nozomi's politeness couldn't last. This was almost as bad as going back and forth with Nico, only with less snark and more…..whatever she called Nozomi's sense of humor. At least she seemed much more easygoing than Nico, if nothing else. "Can you at least tell me where we're going?"

"You'll see soon."

"Ugh." Maki grunted.

Nozomi grinned wryly at her through the rear-view mirror. "You know, you left something at Nico's house. I can give it to you if you want."

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "I did?" She didn't think she'd even brought anything in with her…..

"Yeah. Her number."

Maki groaned loudly. She was so glad she'd taken the day off today.

AN: This just in: I'm not sure how, but somehow, Maki is a bigger potty mouth than Nico, and Nico is pretty much allergic to cars in her wolf form, wow haha. Also the second year trio was going to be here but then I realized the chapter was almost 6,000 words and I sorta just. Cut it so that this wouldn't be too long, heheh. So you'll see those dorks next time with Maki, and, hopefully, Eli will be introduced in the same chapter, too!

haha, but, jokes aside I'm actually really surprised that this many people read it and liked it? wow? So, thanks, to everyone who decided to take an interest in the story! I'll try not to disappoint! Speaking of which, how should I set my update schedule? Should I just update whenever a new chapter is done, or should I set it up so that it's like an 'every five days' or once a week sort of deal? Updating as soon as a chapter is finished might mean fast updates for now, but it does leave me unprepared for when ye olde writer's block decides to knock me flat on my ass and leave, so I figured I should ask. As for your questions, I'll respond some here - To Master thief: Yeah, i'm going with the 'magical clothes' variant of lycanthropy because frankly, Maki would've just called the cops if she saw some ass-naked stranger in her backyard, haha. And, since firetucks was wondering, actually yes! I am planning on other characters being spoopy halloween-themed monsters, some of which you'll see next chapter. Thanks for reading! See you around saturday, probably.