Author's Note: It's here. I know it's been nearly 2 years. I don't have any acceptable excuses. I'm sorry. Please try to enjoy.
VII. A Simple Life
The soft sound of clinking plates was able to stir Wolfrun from his, thankfully, dreamless sleep. He rolled over to see the room was now empty, with blankets and pillows scattered haphazardly in front of the door, which was open a crack. He could see what might have been Reika's elbow in the other room. His heart skipped a beat as he suddenly thought about what she would think of his outburst last night.
Calm down. None of them are mad at you.
Wolfrun slowly stretched out his arms and legs, letting out a big loud yawn, prompting murmers from outside. They all knew he was awake now. He slowly stood to his feet and located his pants, which he slid on before he strode over to the sliding door, quickly pushing it aside.
A chorus of "good morning"s and "how did you sleep"s greeted him. They all seemed happy to see him. Tae was not in the room at the moment it seemed. "I slept okay." He caught Miyuki staring at him with some concern. "Dreams weren't that great. What's that smell?" Wishing to get off the subject and also wondering what the heck the delicious smell he suddenly noticed was, Wolfrun started to sniff the air.
"Akane's making pancakes!" Candy shot up from the floor high into the air, startling the wolf and causing him to stumble backwards onto his butt, barely catching the wall to soften the fall. The small fairy bounced over to his fallen form offering apologies as everyone else stifled a laugh.
Wolfrun sat up and responded to the fairy's concerns. "I'm alright. You just surprised me."
Had it been a few years ago she would have been mincemeat...
"Well that's good to hear. Come join us at the table, Wolfrun! The food's almost ready!" Miyuki patted a spot on the ground between her and Nao. He scooted over using his arms to push his rear across the floor until he arrived at the destination, an action which caused more stifled laughter. By now Wolfrun knew he should just ignore it, since it would take a while for the girls to get used to him doing anything that wasn't him being all menacing and evil.
Just as he slid into place, Akane and Tae arrived with breakfast: the aforementioned pancakes as well as a pitcher of orange juice accompanied by glasses. Everyone reached to get their share, and Wolfrun, suddenly feeling how hungry he was, piled a sizable stack of pancakes onto his plate. No words uttered about last night, thankfully, allowing everyone to eat the tasty food stress-free.
"So what's on the itinerary today, everyone?" Tae eventually inquired.
Miyuki pondered for a moment "Well, I didn't have anything planned specifically. What about you guys?" At this, everyone else looked around as if expecting someone else to say something.
"I was hopin' one of you had a plan." Akane managed to spout out through her chewed food.
"Well, if that's the case, I could use some help tending my garden. If you would all be okay with that." Sounds of murmured agreement rippled through the girls while Wolfrun continued his crusade to eat as much as he possibly could. "How does that sound, Wolfrun?" Tae laid her kind eyes on her lupine guest, who looked up with cheeks full of pancake. "Gardening also helps people relax.", she added softly.
Recalling the heart-to-heart the two of them had had that morning, he swallowed his food and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good." he quietly stated.
Breakfast ended around 10 AM. Everything was put away and Tae donned her sunhat as she walked outside, Candy bounding after her. Everyone else was preparing to go out as well.
"I don't think gardening is gonna take the entire day. Are you guys sure none of you had any plans of what to do for this trip?" Nao sounded a tad annoyed as she pulled on her shoes.
"Well, it was kinda planned last minute." Miyuki glanced over at Wolfrun briefly. "But I'm sure something else will come along once we're done."
The six of them stepped out and made their way over to Candy and Tae. "See these little sprouts here?" the grandma showed the fairy the tufts of green poking from the soil. "These are weeds. I need you to help me pick them out."
Candy looked inquisitively at her. "Why?"
"Well, because they're drinking up all the water I want to give to my plants, and that will cause them to wilt."
"Oh! Candy understands!" The tiny fairy then proceeded to yank out every weed she could find.
Tae turned around to face the new gardeners. "You guys just follow her lead. Then we'll water and that should be it." At that, everyone dispersed to different areas of the garden to weed. Although the list of chores was small, the size of the garden made it seem a tad daunting. Wolfrun sauntered over to Tae and stared at the pile of weeds she had made. He crouched down and took some in his hand, and continued staring.
This is stupid. They're plants, Wolfrun. PLANTS!
"Hm? What is it, Wolfrun?" Tae finally took notice to the big wolf next to her.
"These plants are just trying to survive, aren't they?"
"Yes, that is true." She gave him that kind, understanding smile once more. "Do you wish to give them a new home?"
"...kinda?"
She placed an arm on his shoulder. "There's plenty of space in the forest to put them." She handed him a small hand spade.
"Th-thanks. I know it's kinda silly..."
"I don't think it is at all. You truly are a kind and gentle person, Wolfrun."
"Y-yeah. Thanks, Tae." He pulled his tank top up to form a sort of pouch, which he placed the weeds into, and he stood up and walked over to the others, whose piles of weeds were also growing. Wolfrun started to deposit them into his makeshift carrier.
"Whaddaya doin' there, big guy? Makin' a salad?" Akane, looking over her shoulder, raised an eyebrow.
"No, I'm gonna replant them in the forest. Tae said I could."
"Oh..." the red-haired snarkster actually seemed caught off guard for once. Reika was not, however, and she approached him with her hands full of weeds.
"That is very smart of you, Wolfrun! Simply disposing of the weeds would be wasteful. That is, of course, if they were not used in compost that would bolster the growth of other plants. Either option is good, however. May I help you when you have gathered them all?" Wolfrun nodded in response.
"Candy wants to help plant them too!"
"We can all help!" Miyuki's cheerfulness permeated throughout the garden.
Wolfrun felt a pang in his chest. "Thanks a lot, guys! It really means a lot to me...", he looked down at his collection, "...even if they're just plants."
The group continued weeding until all (or at least what they could find) of the weeds were cleared out, and placed into Wolfrun's tanktop pouch. The weeds were taken to the closest edge of the forest, and everyone dug tiny holes to put them into, creating a tiny forest in the shadow of the actual one. It looked quite quaint.
"It's like a forest for bugs!" Miyuki was crouched down with her face near the ground as if she was looking to see if any insects actually noticed the new plants.
"I think bugs are already used to the big ol' regular forest, Miyu."
"Oh hush, Akane!"
The group stepped out of the shade of the trees and into the midday, summer sun. Unanimously, everyone turned to each other.
"It's hot!"
Yayoi was the first to offer a solution. "Why don't we all go to the stream?" To which Wolfrun grimaced.
"Last time I was there a kappa attacked me. I don't really wanna have that again."
"Ooh, but I wanna see a kappa!"
"Me too!"
"I'm not your kappa bait!"
"Ladies, ladies, please, settle down" Akane held her arms up, wearing a smug look. "I know exactly what we can do. We all brought swimsuits, right?"
"Uh huh, for the stream." Miyuki didn't seem to follow the red head's logic.
"You seem to be forgetting the thing you talked about when summer was just beginning..." This remark sparked something in the other girl's eyes.
"Yes! Yes yes yes yes!" Miyuki was starting to show her trademark excitement while everybody else donned a look of realization. Aside from Wolfrun and Candy, of course.
"Are we gonna play a game?" The small fairy piped up. Instead of answering, the five ex-precure headed towards the house, and then past it, with their large wolf friend following confusedly. Tae, who was now sitting on the porch, smiled gently at them as they passed.
"Do you know what's going on?" Wolfrun asked her in passing.
"I think I have an idea. You go and see for yourself."
"Oh boy..."
Once he caught up to the girls he found that they were in front of an old shed mostly reclaimed by nature. Reika and Nao stood outside while the rest of the group was, presumably, inside. Clattering could be heard from within. Wolfrun held up a finger to ask what was happening but got a direct answer as an assortment of colorful plastic objects spilled from the shed, followed by Miyuki, Akane, and Yayoi, with Candy riding atop her blond head. Wolfrun simply stared at the objects that were just deposited. They looked familiar, as he had seen things like them on some of the television shows he had watched. Those were projectile weapons of some sort, but these were clearly not supposed to be lethal. But what did these have to do with…
"Water gun battle! Choose your weapon!" Akane shouted and swung her arms out suddenly, nearly smacking the girls at her side. Everyone reached down to pick from the assortment of water guns. Wolfrun picked up the biggest one in the pile and turned it over in his hands. It was a ridiculously obnoxious yellow with green tanks and an orange moving piece. He held it like he had seen in the shows and pulled the trigger, which rewarded him with an awful creaking sound, causing his ears to flick back.
"Oh boy, Wolfie's found his!" Nao commented, holding twin pistols of vastly different designs.
"If it makes that sound every time I use it I'm throwing it in a fire. Where's the water anyway?" The wolf inspected every inch of the toy.
Miyuki moved to Wolfrun's side, holding a pink gun similar to his, only about twice as small. "Don't worry, it's only making that noise because it's been in that old shed for years. It'll go away once you start using it. And we still have to fill them with water. We can use the faucet grandma uses for her watering can. We should get changed first, though."
Everyone filtered inside, and Wolfrun was sent into the bathroom to change. Off with the tank top, pants, underwear, and on with the weird, netted shorts.
This is definitely not as comfortable as my old bathing suit…
Wolfrun tied up his hair as well, at the advice of Reika. Having the longest hair out of the girls she understood what steps he should take to enjoy this "battle" to its fullest. Once he was done he stood there, staring at his reflection. His reflection stared back as he recalled his nightmare from last night. He swallowed hard, but kept his eyes forward. The wolf he saw wasn't the one he used to see. This one didn't give him the urge to look away. He smiled slightly, and so did the wolf in the mirror.
"You got this."
Wolfrun scooped up his clothing and left the bathroom. He felt a bit vulnerable only wearing his swimsuit, but he tried his best to ignore it. Everyone was already outside filling up their weapons. Even Candy had managed to find a tiny gun that was almost her size. He stepped onto the lawn, grabbing the group's attention. Miyuki slid his super soaker toward him, informing him that they had filled it already. Once everyone got their weapons loaded a scene very reminiscent to yesterday played out.
"So what are the teams gonna be?"
"Same as yesterday! Rematch!"
"Wait who even won yesterday..."
"I did because I kicked the ball the farthest."
"Wolfrun that's not how soccer works."
Candy broke the ruckus with her shrill voice. "Candy proposes new teams!"
The group quieted down and looked at her in surprise. She was standing on top of Yayoi's head with a serious look on her face. It still looked adorable though.
"Well, she is a queen after all. I think we should listen to her." Miyuki's support seemed to convince everyone else.
This time Akane, Miyuki, and Wolfrun made up one team while Nao, Reika, and the Yayoi/Candy combo made up the other. The fairy held her tiny gun out in front of her as she sat on top of the blond's head.
"PEW PEW!"
"Are we sure she's not gonna be overpowered? That's like two people in one."
"Ah, calm down Akane." Nao reassured her friend. "I'm sure it counteracts the skyscraper wolf with the bazooka on your team." The last comment was punctuated by a smile in Wolfrun's direction, which he awkwardly returned.
What's a bazooka?
"Alright girls, let's split!" Nao and her team ran off to the other side of the house, while Akane and crew moved toward the woods.
Akane chuckled. "Those fools ain't gonna know what hit em!"
"What makes you say that?" Miyuki asked as she crouched down slightly as if she were ready to shoot the next thing that popped in front of her. The redhead responded by nudging Wolfrun's side, causing a small "ack!" from him.
"Well, you know what they say. When two rivals team up, they become unstoppable!" She added.
"Do people say that?"
"Someone had to have at some point, Wolfrun. Now come here, we're gonna come up with a plan..."
The three huddled together as Akane laid the foundation of their attack, which was to essentially use the two girls to weaken the opposition and save Wolfrun for the final attack.
"How come I keep getting all the 'stand still and do nothing' roles in these human games?"
Akane playfully dismissed this while Miyuki looked at him in concern. "Why don't we just go out there and have fun?", she suggested with a meek smile. "Not everything has to be a competition, Akane."
Akane responded with a pouty face, but seemed to agree. "Do what you wanna do, big guy! But if we lose keep in mind that I told ya so!" With that, she split away from her two teammates.
Wolfrun turned toward Miyuki with a grin. "Thanks!"
"No problem, Wolfrun! Now let's go cool down!"
Suddenly Nao's voice echoed from the other side of the house. "REAAADY!?"
"YEAH I'M READY! READY TO SOAK YOU LOSERS!" The immediate reply given by Akane started the battle, setting the water gun carrying pawns into motion. Both girls moved to opposite ends of the house while Wolfrun stood there, soaker at the ready. Miyuki moved around the corner out of his sight. It didn't take long before the sound of water and a scream rang out, and a wet and laughing Miyuki scrambled back into view.
"SOAK 'EM WOLFRUN, SOAK 'EM!", the pink haired girl hooked her arm around the wolf's waist and swung her body around him, protecting her from further attack. Before he could react to that, Nao whipped around the corner, gun at the ready. Wolfrun brought his weapon up and pulled the trigger, to no effect.
"Ehh?"
"WOLFRUN YOU DIDN'T PUMP IT?"
"C-crap!"
"And that'll be the last mistake you make!" Nao was upon them in a flash, a stream of water already flowing from her super soaker. Wolfrun started to bolt, but not before Miyuki jumped up and clung to his back. Thanks to both of their quick movements, Wolfrun only got sprayed a little bit on the side.
Isn't the whole point to get wet though? I'm boiling out here. This is stupid.
The two of them rounded the corner of the house only to be met with Akane with her back to the wall, and Reika and the Yayoi/Candy fusion closing in. Of course, with the arrival of two more members of Akane's team, they were taken aback.
"NOW, MEN!" Akane shouted as she let loose a deluge onto the surprised girls.
Miyuki had dismounted the wolf and supported her friend's assault. "Pump your gun up and take care of Nao!", she instructed Wolfrun, who promptly obeyed. He turned the corner once again to meet a charging Nao, only to send her back once again with a fully powered blast from his super soaker.
"URROOOO FU FU FU FU FU!" Okay, now he was having fun.
The group continued their war of water throughout the afternoon, reducing the lawn to a swamp-like state. This, inevitably, ended with every participant slipping and falling into a laughing, muddy pile.
"Okay, so is this a tie?" Miyuki stood up first, wiping mud from her legs and giggling. Everyone agreed that it didn't matter who won.
Tae stepped out onto the lawn to observe the mountain of girls, fairy, and wolf. "Well, I was going to invite you all in for dinner, but you're going to have to clean off before you set foot on my clean floors!" Her tone was friendly, but everyone could tell she meant what she said.
Nao pushed her bangs out of her face as she shot an inquisitive look toward Miyuki's grandmother. "Wait, dinner already?"
"Mhm! You guys have been at your little war for a while now. Very entertaining to watch, by the way!" Tae turned back and walked inside. "Don't forget to help Wolfrun get all that mud out of his fur! It'll be harder than getting it off skin!"
The group had all gotten to their feet at this point, with Wolfrun in the middle. Everyone stared at him after Tae's instruction. He glanced around nervously. "H-hey, I can clean myself!"
"Yeah, but that's no fun." Akane snapped her fingers. "C'mon girls, let's get over to the hose and get all this gunk off us."
As Tae had predicted, the mud washed off quickly, but all the dirt that had gotten onto the girls' giant wolf friend was matted into his fur and seemed to need more direct action.
"HEADS UP!" As soon as the words left Akane's mouth, a sponge landed smack on Wolfrun's face.
"Ow! Hey that hurt!" The wolf peeled the sponge from his face and started to scrub his fur. He looked up only to see that all the girls now had sponges too. "Wh-where did you get those?"
"Grandma gave them to us, so now you'll be clean in no time!" Miyuki beamed.
"W-wait a second I-GAAAHK" He was cut off by a full on attack of cleanliness from the girls. He fought for a few seconds before succumbing to the suds. He sat there trying to look grumpy, but all he could think of is how he was surrounded by people who loved him.
"Alright, now how do we dry him off?" Nao queried. Wolfrun held his hand up to her as he stood up.
"I got this. Everyone stand back or you're gonna get wet again." He walked to the middle of the yard as the girls retreated. He placed his feet apart in a wide stance and shook with all his might, flicking water droplets in all directions, until his fur was relatively dry.
"Oh, well that works too." Tae had just walked out with towels in her arms.
After drying off and getting dressed, the group had dinner, which ended up lasting a couple of hours as the girls shared stories from school. Wolfrun didn't understand most of what they were saying, but he didn't have to. This was socialization. What he sought after for so many years of his life, and it felt so comfortable to just sit in a room with people. He caught Tae gazing at him with a warm smile, which he easily returned.
His attention was suddenly caught by Miyuki, who pulled on the material of his t-shirt. "What do you think, Wolfrun? Wanna roast some marshmallows?"
"Uh, yeah, okay!" He didn't know what that meant either.
Tae put everything left from dinner away as the group moved outside once more, now bathed in moonlight. "There's a fire pit just down the forest path." Miyuki, holding a lighter and a bag of marshmallows, pointed the group forward.
"W-what? You didn't say it was in the forest!" Yayoi held her balled up fists to her mouth, making a small whimpering sound.
Nao piped up after her friend. "Yeah, isn't it kinda dangerous to go in there after dark?"
"What, you scared too?" Wolfrun jeered.
"Oh screw off you big fur carpet!" Nao gave him a few swift jabs to his back. Gently, of course.
"Ahah! Glad to see you warmin up to us, big guy!" Akane gave the wolf a few pats in the area Nao had previously attacked.
The fire pit made itself apparent in a small clearing of the woods, allowing for the bright full moon to shine through. Everyone sat down in a circle around the pit while Miyuki lit the fire. As it roared to life Akane handed everyone a tree branch, which she seemed to have found oddly fast.
"Okay...", Wolfrun stared at the stick in his hand and at everyone else, "...what Earth thing are we doing now?"
"Roasting marshmallows!" Miyuki answered excitedly as she struggled to open the marshmallow bag. Wolfrun gestured for her to hand it to him, to which she complied.
"Okay, so these puffballs here are food." He deftly slit the bag open with a claw and pulled one out. "Heh, kinda reminds me of you, Candy!" The fairy in question was too mesmerized by the fire to respond. Wolfrun tossed the bag back to Miyuki and popped the marshmallow into his mouth.
"What do you think?" Miyuki had just barely managed to catch the bag without the whole thing spilling out.
"It's not good." Wolfrun repeatedly rubbed his tongue against his top teeth, not unlike a dog who had just eaten peanut butter.
"Oh, well maybe you'll like them better roasted."
Everyone speared a mallow and held it near the fire, except for Candy, who stuck hers straight in and was rewarded with a makeshift torch, which she found very entertaining. Wolfrun followed suit with the girls, holding his stick just above the fire until the white puff at the end turned a light golden brown.
"That looks good, Wolfrun. Now try to see if you like it." Reika had been mostly quiet since they left the house, but seemed invested in Wolfrun's possible enjoyment of marshmallows. He complied and bit into it. The girls leaned in expectantly.
"So?"
The wolf chewed thoughtfully. "Still not great." Everyone fell backwards from their sitting position with groans of disappointment.
Akane recovered quickly, though. "Ah well, they can't all be winners, eh?"
"I'm still saving room for your okonomiyaki, y'know!"
"Wow you really have a one track mind, huh?"
Everyone laughed as they enjoyed their after dinner snack, the general chatter of the previous meal returning as Wolfrun sat there in the company of his new friends.
"Say, Wolfrun, do you howl at the moon?" His view snapped to the voice, which came from Yayoi. She was looking up at the sky.
"What? No! Not really, no." He looked away, embarrassed.
"Aha! That means you have!"
"One time!"
"We wanna hear it!"
"Huh?"
"Yeah, let loose big guy!"
Wolfrun put his face in his hands. "This is stupid."
"Hey, look, we'll start first!" Miyuki started a ridiculous sounding howl, followed by everyone else. It sounded like Candy was just shouting.
The noise started to become unbearable when Wolfrun stood up, pointed his snout skyward, and let loose a loud, long howl, followed by whoops and applause from his company. Once he was finished he sat back down as everyone gathered around him to tell him how nice his howl sounded. The howls of distant dogs could be heard echoing it as the biggest grin formed on Wolfrun's face.
Despite what happened last night, this trip turned out really great.