I'm really sorry this took so long.

Disclaimer: I do not own Wolf's Rain and am not making any profit from this writing.

Prompt: I saw him and I just stopped. Everything stopped.

Kiba and Hige's first meeting. Set during Episode 1.


It was pure curiosity that led Hige to the basement of the police station that night. He had come to the city lured by the scent of lunar flowers, but he had always avoided the police station. Why go near it? If law enforcement had any idea what he was, they would shoot him on sight.

When he smelled another wolf – a wild wolf, from outside the city – he decided to brave the station. The scent of blood that came with it gave him only momentary pause. He was bored out of his mind anyway, he reasoned, so would it really be such a tragedy if he was killed? It was worth the risk, to find something interesting.

He would not be disappointed.

He quickly found the basement door, and slipped inside. The first thing he noticed was the smell. It got less bearable as he approached the cages. He guessed that he was smelling every animal, not to mention human, that had ever passed through the basement. He smelled too many species to think about – why did the humans insist on keeping "exotic" pets? They smelled awful!

He covered his nose, not that it helped much, and walked down the rows. Most of the basement was apparently used for storage. There were really only a few cages here and there, although they obviously got regular use. A cat hissed at him from one.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, "Shut up."

Near the back, he finally saw something large and white in one of the cages. He strode up to it, grinning at his success, and froze.

It was a pure white wolf, seemingly asleep on the cage floor. The floor was smeared with his blood. Perhaps it was morbid curiosity that drew him to the other wolf. Perhaps it was something else. Whatever the reason, Hige was fascinated, and he slowly crouched in front of him.

"Man, you really screwed up," he said. He almost laughed, "I mean, I've seen one of us get caught before, but never this badly."

Was that a rude introduction, he wondered? It was, now that he thought about it. Well, it wasn't as if the other wolf was listening, right?

Except that he was. He slowly opened his yellow eyes, though he made no move to get up.

"I can get out of here whenever I feel like it," he answered, a little defensively. Hige smiled. This could be very amusing.

"Aha," he said lightly, in a tone that said he didn't believe him, "So then why are you in there?"

Hige bantered with him for a few minutes. He was strange, but Hige could appreciate that. Strange was unique, and unique was interesting. He didn't react when Hige actually introduced himself. He didn't give his name, but Hige didn't specifically ask for it, so maybe it just didn't occur to him.

The white wolf seemed a little annoyed by his presence, but he was fun to talk to anyway. Hige liked him from the moment he opened his mouth.

"You're living a lie, just so you can die a miserable death in this city?" he questioned, growling. It was the first sign of life from him, so Hige wasn't as offended as he might have been otherwise.

"Gotta do what you can to survive, right? Keep looking like that, you'll be back here in no time. It draws too much attention," he answered, smiling a little. That was apparently a mistake, because it clearly pissed the white wolf off. He finally rose to his feet, his growl increasing in volume.

He's an alpha, Hige noted. It took a moment before that really registered. When it did, the realization was followed immediately by a strong desire to follow the other wolf. Instinctually, he wanted to be part of a pack.

"Have you given up your pride as a wolf?" the alpha demanded, pulling him back out of his head.

"Hmm?" he drew back a bit in surprise, before relaxing and smiling again, "You're a strange one alright. But having pride doesn't count for much if you're dead. Ya know?"

The white wolf just stared at him, gaping. He looked positively floored by that. Hige couldn't help but feel pleased. It wasn't often that he came up with these inspirational sayings!

An alarm went off then, startling them both. The white wolf snarled, biting at the bars.

Dude, that's not going to work, Hige thought. Nonetheless, he stood and, not wanting to get bitten, stepped away. It was a good thing he did, too, because the bars quickly gave way under the pressure. The white wolf was out of the cage in no time at all.

"Huh. Impressive," the white wolf glared at him, "What's wrong? Just think about it. It's easy."

He kept glaring at him. Hige waited a moment. Nope, still a wolf.

"Picture it?" he suggested, "I swear, it's not complicated."

The yellow eyes closed. For a moment, Hige almost thought he had had it and was simply going to snap at him, but the wolf seemed to flicker, then disappear. He was replaced by a human teenager. His hair was dark brown, artfully tussled. It framed his face, which gave Hige a new reference for that clichéd saying, "sculpted by angels."

He opened his eyes, and Hige forgot to breathe. They were blue, like the ocean, or a stormy sky. Except that that wasn't fair, because neither of those things could truly compare to this wolf's eyes.

"This feels weird," he commented, almost absently. His voice drew Hige back to the moment. Right, he needed to stop staring at him and focus on other things – for instance, getting out of the police station alive.

"Yeah?" Hige asked, smiling, "You'll get used to it."

The other wolf looked a little doubtful, but he seemed to accept it. He followed Hige out, limping heavily. The soldiers running out to respond to the alarm paid little attention to them, and they left the building easily enough.

Once they were outside the compound, Hige gave a sigh of relief. He had been afraid the other wolf would lose focus and drop his illusion. He had to admit, he was a little impressed. It never even flickered.

"Sir! That big dog! It disappeared!" he heard someone shout behind them.

Whoops. Sorry about that, he smirked a little to himself.

"What?" another man demanded, shocked.


Hige sat on a ledge on the rooftop. The white wolf, currently a dark-haired boy, was stretched out on the very edge of the roof, staring up at the cloudy night sky.

He obviously isn't afraid of heights, Hige thought. There were at least a good twenty stories up. If he fell, he would surely break something, but he dangled his legs off the roof, seeming completely unconcerned with that possibility.

"My nose can tell when a dog's takin' a dump ten kilometers away," Hige bragged. The other wolf turned to look at him.

"Yeah? That must really stink."

Wow. He has a sense of humor? He thought, relieved. The white wolf was so serious, he had been a bit worried. He laughed a little.

"Sure does," he said, grinning. He turned to look at the other wolf again, and he froze, with a gasp.

He was smiling. Just a tiny, tiny bit, but he was definitely smiling. His lips were turned up just slightly, and his blue eyes were warm.

Hige could stare at his face forever. He wanted to see that face again, every day. That face was what made him decide he needed to follow the other wolf. This was his alpha. He would follow him to Hell and back.

Hige gaped at him, while all this ran through his head (1). Then, realizing he probably looked like an idiot, he grinned brightly, his eyes actually squeezing shut with the force of his smile. When he opened them, the other wolf was looking at the sky again.

"So why did you escape with me?" he asked.

"Uh, I don't know," Hige drawled, not expecting that question, "I just felt like it, I guess. Besides, you seem kind of interesting."

The other wolf didn't respond to that.

"So, what's next?" Hige asked, "Where're ya headed?"

He would make up an excuse to follow him. Wherever he was going.

"To Paradise."

Wait, what? He couldn't possibly be serious. That was ridiculous. No one actually believed those stories, did they? Hige looked at him again.

Oh, hell, he thought. He was serious. He was crazy. Cuckoo. Wacko. Nutso. Absolutely…

"There isn't any moonlight in this place." Okay, the guy was cracked in the head, but Hige had to admit, he did have a point there. Besides, hadn't he already decided to follow him, no matter where he went?

"Paradise, huh? That sounds like fun."

"My name is," he paused, "Kiba."

The little voice in his head, which his mother had always claimed was his "common sense," told him this was a bad, bad idea.

Fang! Even his name sounds dangerous! The voice yelled. Hige ignored it. He would much rather listen to Kiba than to common sense.

After all, his mother had said something else, hadn't she?

Love is blind.


(1) Okay, so I realize that, rewatching this episode, I was looking for hints of this pairing. But holy crap. Serious yaoi moment. I ain't kidding. Watch the episode again, you'll see it! O_O Kiba smiles (smiles!). Hige gasps, and totally just gapes at him. For a full THREE seconds. You cannot deny the yaoi! …Excuse me, I'm having a fangirl moment.

It won't take 2 months for the next chapter, I promise. And I really appreciate all of the reviews, favorites, and story alerts!