Chapter 10 – Seven Days to the Wolves (Part One)

Jinguji was beside himself from laughing so hard. Hijirikawa, on the other hand, kept his already red face under the towel. That whole ten-minute of explaining the cause had been already humiliating enough (not counting the numerous times he stuttered and spluttered out his words) but Ren's guffaws even made it worse.

"It wasn't funny, Jinguji," Masato mumbled, looking away.

The blond ran a hand through his hair, trying to regain his breath. He sat beside Masato, a playful glint in his bright blue eyes. "Never knew you had a thing for me, Masa-chan—"

"Tease me more, Jinguji, and I swear you will regret it," Masato glared. "I'm trying to finally calm my soul down and you are not helping at all."

Jinguji rested his chin on the palm of his hand, grinning mischievously. His bushy wolf tail was inching towards Masato's. "Why aren't you calling me 'Ren' anymore, Masa-tan—" His orange tuft playfully nudged at Masato's .

Masato smacked Ren's back with his mer-croc tail.

"Ow—hey—That's not cute at all—"

Hijirikawa stood up. "If you ever pull off that stunt at me again anywhere outside this room, I'm shaving your head bald." He pulled off the towel off his shoulders and proceeded to his wardrobe to change. "I think our 'meaningful' conversation is done—and we are in mutual agreement. Kindly go back to your side of the room—I'm sleeping this off." He turned his back on Ren without another word.

Jinguji got off from his seat with a slight scowl and walked to the other side. He never changes.

He thought he should change, too. Somehow he also got wet from dragging Masato from the bathroom.

Such cute tantrums, he had to chuckle. He couldn't even remember how he managed to make such a promise to his childhood friend. Or was it because he had known him for so long he couldn't bear to see him cry? He decided to shrug it off. He didn't regret any of it at all anyway.

While he changed, he stole a look back at his roommate's side. Masato's pale back was on him, slightly blanketed by the bluish tint of his soul appearance.

Damn could this guy send off THAT amount of pheromones, Jinguji thought as he threw his shirt in the laundry basket. Ren rubbed the back of his neck with a slightly sweaty hand, his heart beating faster than usual. This is dangerous. And the worst part is he's not even aware of it.

He ran a hand through his hair.

At least, I know when and how to spread my own. This guy needs some charm lessons.

Hijirikawa was thankful that it was the weekend. He had (somehow) enough time to revert back to his practices and turn himself to 'normal' before school resumes. Well—he could've done it in a jiffy but due to some 'difficulties', he had only managed to do so by nightfall of the next day.

And by 'difficulties', he meant Jinguji.

Ren was purposefully unleashing his pheromones like a defective light bulb. On and off. It was not enjoyable at all for Masato. The bluehair was not stupid to not notice his attempts at teasing him again—but he was annoyed at the fact that he stumbled into the traps headfirst.

The first one was during the morning. It was a rare case—Jinguji waking up at six in the morning. Just a little after Masato fixed his futon to make way for his exercises. It made Masato curious but suddenly regretted it as he saw Ren naked again.

Of course, Jinguji got another earful after that.

Lunchtime.

Since Masato couldn't go outside (his soul form still evident), Ren had opted to get him some food from the school cafe (to keep his end of the bargain). When the blond returned, Masato was amazed that he had brought one of his favorite delicacies, which he could tell by smell alone.

Jinguji felt a smirk forming in his lips. It seemed his roommate got a little too excited. Ren eyed Masato's happily swaying mer-croc tail from behind the latter's shoulders.

"What are you staring at, Jinguji?" The bluehair inquired, his hands on the package.

Ren was still enjoying the view. To further tease the latter, he had his own bushy tail do the same.

"Aren't you quite the cute little mer-croc?"

Masato realized what he had been pertaining to. A blush crept up from his neck to his pale face. He took his lunch from Ren's hands and the former got another smack from Masato's tail.

Jinguji went back to his side of the room, smoothening out his tail which had blocked Masato's hit. Worth it, he grinned.

They said the third time's a charm, and Jinguji decided to try it out.

Masato had been silently practicing, his back on Jinguji. He had been sitting like a Buddha statue on the tatami mat for hours. Ren wouldn't be surprised if Masato starting doing that 'ohhmmmmm' breathing exercises anytime soon.

The blond had already napped and woke up to Masato still not yet done with his 'ritual'. That was some tough spirit channeling. He's actually progressing, he thought. Jinguji could actually smell a human in the room now.

Boring.

Why not one last screw up—?

Jinguji swung of the bed silently and crouched down. Being a wolf trained in stalking his prey, Ren crept up behind an unsuspecting Masato. He slowly popped out his wolf ears and tail, positioned his head near Masato's ear, his hand on Masato's waist before breathing in on the latter's ear in a voiced laced with sexy venom—

"Masa-chan—"

Ren cradled an ice pack on his chin as he chuckled out the last of his guffaws.

"You never learn, do you Ren?" Masato huffed, his face still burning a bright shade of red. He rubbed a hand to his right ear. "I was this close to completing everything and you had the guts to do that!"

Jinguji's grin was stretched from ear to ear. "Come on, it was just a prank; though—looks like your ears are still sensitive, Masa-chan." Masato shot him a death glare. "But—hey, at least you're back to being a boring old ape-human."

"I am so going to shave you bald."

Ren just grinned even more. "Be my guest, Masa-chan."

Masato rolled his eyes and left the room.

Jinguji couldn't help grinning even more. He had never felt so pleased with himself. The only thing he regretted was that he could not record the whole scene and watch it over and over. It was like a balloon being popped by a needle. All of Masato's features seemed to violently explode in that split-second moment. His tail popped up in a vivid blue hue, his shoulders raised to its highest proportions and he almost fell down on the tatami mat.

Ren was enjoying too much of the scene that he had not felt the oncoming rush of Masato's hit. Even though Masato reverted back into his ape-human form, the blond could still see in his mind's eye that delightful form of Hijirikawa, tapping the table with his tail in time to emphasize every word to scold him.

Pfft.

Don't think the fun's ended, Masa-chan.

Masato sat, tired and drained, on the grassy lawn facing the campus lake. It was probably time for dinner and he could see his fellow students walking towards the mess hall. He could only sigh. He buried his head in his palms.

Ren's breathy voice and traces of his warmth kept playing over and over in his head. Shit. That was no simple prank!

Masato could remember how he almost actually transformed into a mermaid right there. He had never been so defenseless during that time. No wonder heavy-seeds were incredibly respected and feared. Their powers were overwhelming. For the first time in a long time, Masato felt fear gripping him to the core of his bones. He couldn't explain if it were the fear like the one he had for his father, but he was sure it was something else.

The wind started to blow. Masato shivered slightly in his sweater.

It was the dread of a possible lifetime partner.

He was fearful of falling for his roommate.

Jinguji was annoyed. Not even his numerous fan-girls could affect his mood. Luckily his forced enthusiasm went unnoticed from his peers. Ren thought things would get interesting with his roommate after things had been progressing during the previous weekend but everything seemed otherwise for Masato.

They did manage to finish a large part of their homework and what's left was the polished recording—which was scheduled not for another three days. It was still Wednesday.

Every time Jinguji tried to get a hold of Masato alone, the bastard would always have an excuse to either escape or lead him in a public place. Back in the room, however, Ren would always either catch Masato already sleeping or talking with his father on the phone.

Smart-ass.

He could just feel Masato's boring routine coming back but he was hoping that Masato had not been purposely avoiding him. Well, had he?

If so, then let's give chase.

Ren decided to go home early.

Masato was glad everything had gone to normal. Well, except the fact that two people had already taken part in his madararui secret. Logically speaking, two could keep a secret if one of them was dead. Not that Masato would want to get his hands dirty or anything; but if ever it came to that—

The bluehair was actually amazed the blond kept his word. Ren was still flirting around like always but he was silent about the issue. There was one thing that changed, though.

Masato noticed Ren's sudden interest in conversing with him—sudden invitations to lunch or inquiring about the homework. It was out of the blue, and Masato could feel some good intent in most of them but knowing Ren, he had to keep his guard at all times—procuring enough alibis during the times they had been mostly 'alone'. If he didn't, he wouldn't know what to do with his 'other problems'.

After his madararui accident, Masato knew his restraints had weakened. He felt his powers nearing the peak of its maturity and it's exhausting him more than usual. He wouldn't be surprised if he would suddenly go 'mer-croc' in a closet or bathroom somewhere, if push came to shove. He'd only pray it wouldn't happen anywhere public or it would be the end of him.

The other problem was Otoya. Masato had no qualms about Ichinose finally getting him under his wing but the clueless Returner to Ancestry redhead had started getting too friendly with him lately; and when Ichinose pulled him aside, apologizing to Hijirikawa for the fox's trouble—Otoya had blurted out, "But he's one of us, too—"

Masato was thankful Ichinose only scoffed at the thought and pulled Otoya away. He was still an ape-human in his eyes. Hijirikawa was slightly nervous at that time. Ichinose Tokiya was half-heavy seed after all. Returners could have strong sensors themselves if properly trained. Good thing Otoya was a late bloomer.

So much to worry about.

Hijirikawa heard a slow rumble from the skies. The clouds were heavy and grey. He had almost forgotten that it was the start of the rainy season. What was today's weather forecast? There was supposed to be a storm coming.

Great.

And now he could hear the first drops hitting the classroom windows.

"Now, this was rare."

Jinguji smirked as he watched Hijirikawa walk towards his side of the room, dripping wet and in mer-mizuchi form. "How did you avoid the crowd in that form?"

"I just changed while entering, Jinguji," Masato said calmly, grabbing a towel and turned to go to the bathroom. "It's dinner time. Everyone's eating out."

Jinguji grinned as he flipped the pages of the magazine he's browsing. "Want me to get you something then, Masa-chan?"

He heard no reply. Only a thud.

Ren sprung to his feet and ran.