It wasn't as if Shizuo had gone straight to Celty and Shinra's apartment, he had listened to his senpai's advice. He walked straight home, ignoring the calls from Kadota and Simon on his way to the tiny apartment.

Once he was there, he took a little while to just breathe, and drink a glass of milk he had bought the day before. He set the glass down on the rickety table, one he'd had to repair several times over, and let out a sigh.

Tom was right, of course he was. Taking a few hours to calm down had made him feel a lot less likely to destroy his friend's apartment because he had seen her acting chummy with that damned flea!

A growl rose up in his throat as he squeezed the glass milk bottle. Seconds later it shattered in his hand and sent shards tumbling all over the table and the floor. "Damn it!" He snarled, his frustration already mounting once more.

He squeezed his hands into fists, barely noticing how that made the glass in his hand dig into his skin. But as soon as he realized what he was doing, he hurriedly stopped. "No, no… I'm not mad at Celty, I'm mad at the louse. I need to stay calm when I talk to her."

Looking down at the many small see-through shards on the floor, he let out an annoyed sigh. "And after I clean all this shit up…"

When everything was cleaned up, and his cut hand was haphazardly wrapped, he decided that it was time to go and see Celty. She should have gotten home by then, it was many hours since he had seen her driving past, so he could talk to her alone, without any interruptions from fleas.

Standing outside the underground doctor's apartment, he rapped his knuckles against the door and waited. After a few moments, he frowned and scrunched up his nose. It stinks… It stinks like…

Celty opened the door before his thought could be completed, but it didn't need to be. Not when he saw a disgustingly familiar figure on the other side of the door.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

The figure jolted to his feet and turned towards the door, and those damned red eyes met Shizuo's enraged brown ones.

Before he could storm into the apartment and kill the rotten bastard, Celty hurriedly stood in front of him with her PDA raised for Shizuo to read. Part of him wanted to grab the damn thing and throw it away, but he wanted to hurt the flea, not Celty, so he forced his eyes to scan the writing.

[Shizuo stop it! I know you're angry but you can't hurt him! I don't want any fighting in this apartment, you hear me?!]

"Why can't I hurt him?! He's a bastard, Celty! You know it and so do I! Whatever he said to try and get you to like him, it's a goddamn lie!" Shizuo furiously yelled as he stomped past her into the apartment.

The flea was quick to back away from him, until he was pressed against the sliding glass door and couldn't go any further. There was fear in those red eyes, but Shizuo couldn't tell who it was directed to… In fact, who cared who it was directed to? It was probably a lie!

With a guttural roar he lifted the black couch and prepared to throw, but he was stopped once again by Celty. The Dullahan had positioned herself in front of the informant with her arms up, protectively shielding him from Shizuo's rage.

"What the-" His grip on the black couch loosened the slightest bit. "Celty, what the hell are you doing?! Let me kill the rat bastard!"

[No! You are going to put down that couch and you're going to listen to what me and Izaya have to say!] Celty firmly ordered him. [If I have to trap you with my shadows to make you listen, I'll do it! Don't test me!]

Shizuo and Celty remained in a standoff for almost a full minute, both of them too stubborn to back down. Behind the Dullahan, Izaya looked between them without saying a word, his hands hidden behind his back and his form shuddering.

In the end, it was Celty's stubbornness which won. Shizuo let out a frustrated, but defeated, growl and set the couch back down. He remained on guard, crossing his arms in front of him. He didn't sit or relax his form, he didn't want to let Izaya think his guard was down, just in case the louse tried to stab him. "Talk."

The debt collector watched as Izaya and Celty turned to face each other. Neither of them spoke, but it still seemed like they were somehow understanding one another. When their weird stare-talk had finished, it was Izaya who spoke first.

"Shizuo… I meant what I said when you ran into me before. I don't want to fight you anymore." He looked up at him with an earnest expression that was so genuine, Shizuo almost believed it was real.

The debt collector couldn't stop himself from scoffing. "Very funny, what kinda trick is this?"

[It's not a trick!]

"It's ALWAYS a trick with him!

[Well it's not this time!]

"You're being fooled Celty, he just wants to use you!"

[You don't know what you're talking about!]

"Yes I do! He's not your friend, he's a fucking monster!"

"Stop it!" Izaya's voice suddenly came between them, his hand on Celty's wrist as he gently pulled her away from Shizuo, as if he was protecting her. "Stop it Celty, please! You don't need to get in a fight because of me!"

The Dullahan instantly whips around and shoves the PDA in the informant's face, but he turns his eyes away without reading it. Despite his gaze never resting on the written words, he continued,"Shizuo has all the reason to hate me. There's no reason to force a friendship, that will only do more harm than good. I'll go home now."

Celty reached out her hand to stop him, but Izaya walked dodge the hand and moved past Shizuo. He grabbed his clothing from Shinra, who had been nervously watching the exchange from the hallway, and left without another word.

The three people who remained in the apartment were silent as the door clicked shut, and Shizuo found himself growing even more confused. Izaya left just like that? No taunts or cruel jokes? No attempts to use that damned switchblade? What was going on?!

Shizuo didn't get to ponder it peacefully for very long. Next to him, Celty wound her arm back and gave him a good, hard punch in the shoulder. When he cried out in surprise and turned to her, the PDA was already in his face.

[You asshole! You said you would let us talk to you!]

"Well I wasn't gonna listen if all he was planning to spew was bullshit!" He leaned forward for good measure, and to make sure his point got across. "Which it was!"

[What?! Shizuo, I know he's telling the truth, Izaya's a changed person! He's different than you remember!]

Shizuo let out a frustrated growl and threw his hands up. "See?! This is exactly why I didn't want to talk to you when he was here! He's wormed his way into your mind, Celty, it's all a big trick!"

[It's not a trick, and if you trust me even the slightest bit you would calm down and let me explain why it isn't, you stubborn idiot!]

Even though Celty didn't have a voice, Shizuo swore that he could hear the loyal ferocity in those words… Loyalty towards the flea, but why? Maybe it was shock, maybe it was curiosity, but either way he let his mouth click shut and slowly sat down on the couch.

Celty remained in her guarded stance for a few moments, like a cornered animal ready to strike if Shizuo said one more stupid thing. Eventually, when the debt collector kept his big mouth shut for an amount of time that seemed to satisfy Celty, she relaxed her stance and began to type.

[Izaya was telling the truth, Shizuo. He doesn't want to fight you anymore.]

Shizuo didn't believe her any more than he believed Izaya. "But why?" He threw his hands up in frustration. "He hates me, he loves making me miserable. Why would he just stop?! It doesn't make any sense!"

He hated himself for admitting it, but that's all he felt he could do. Izaya's constant presence in his life had become something familiar, something he could expect to continue no matter what he tried to do to get rid of it.

Seeing Izaya's strange new behavior, and watching the flea walk away without even a glance back in his direction… It hurt and confused him more than he would like to admit. He just wanted to understand why.

Celty looked between him and her empty PDA for a few moments, and then seemed to release a sigh. [I know it's confusing, but I can try to explain to the best of my abilities. You just have to listen.]

Shizuo kept his mouth shut, deciding it was better to listen before he went berserk again.

[You remember when Izaya went missing for that month?] Shizuo nodded. [Well, it was an informant job for Shiki. He got pretty injured, and he was helped out by a group of people. He became good friends with them, and they helped him to become a better person.]

She motioned to herself with her free hand. [We ended up becoming friends because of this. His personality is different, and he was actually caring about people. It's amazing, Shizuo, it's like I'm finally getting to see who he really was deep down!]

"Is that why you were riding with him today? You guys were hanging out?" Shizuo questioned, trying to keep down the squash of jealousy he felt from Celty's new friendship.

[Kind of. That was for a job that Izaya is working on. Lately there's been… Disappearances, people going missing. No bodies have been found, so we think it's human trafficking.]

"Oh… That's awful…" Shizuo frowned. "How did Izaya get involved?"

Celty hesitated for a moment, and then typed another message. [One of his friends, the ones I mentioned before, her sister went missing. He's been trying to find any clue about what happened, but we hit pretty much a dead end today. He's trying to hide it, but I know he's really beat up about it.]

Shizuo instantly felt guilt begin to build up inside of his stomach, like a heavy weight suddenly dropped. "O-oh…" He shuffled his feet. "So he really has changed… I guess he didn't want to fight because of his friends?"

[Yes, exactly. He doesn't want them to worry more than they already are, his friend's disappearance has shaken all of them.]

The debt collector lowered his head, any doubt he had fading away. He trusted Celty's judgement, and her story made sense. If she believed that Izaya had become a better person, maybe she was right.

He groaned and ran a hand through his blonde hair. "Damn it…" He growled. "I feel like an asshole now. I called him all those things, and he was actually trying to be nice. Why do I fuck up everything?"

[Shizuo, don't talk like that!] Celty hit his shoulder and shook her finger. [Yes, Izaya has changed, but you didn't know that at first. After the rivalry you two shared, I'm not surprised that you didn't believe us. But, now you know the truth, and you can do what you will with it.]

The blonde nodded at her PDA, and looked to where the informant had exited the apartment. The guilt in his chest was still there, even after Celty's comforting words. He knew what he needed to do, he needed to apologize.

Shizuo wasn't sure what they would become now that their rivalry was obsolete, but he supposed he would just have to wait and find out.

Izaya knew he probably should have gone straight back to Shinjuku, just in case Shizuo decided to try and chase after him, but he couldn't bring himself to. He wanted to be alone for a while, and deal with the pain Shizuo's words had brought him.

He tried to not be too offended, he understood why the strong man was suspicious of his words. Izaya had never expected to change, it was just as surprising to him as it was for everyone else. But still…

For Shizuo to call him a monster, it hurt more than he would like to admit. Perhaps it was because he knew Shizuo was only human, while Izaya was something completely removed from that. A monster? He thought about his pack, full of kind and caring wolves. No, no… That's not what I am, that's not what any of us are.

His confused and pained thoughts were interrupted as a familiar, delicious smell caught the attention of his sensitive nose. He looked up and found himself standing across from Russian Sushi. His stomach growled eagerly, and he welcomed the distraction from his confusing mind.

He let his hands relax in his jacket pockets as he walked up the front door, where Simon was trying to hand out coupons to uninterested people. The young man who he was speaking to scurried away nervously, leaving Simon alone. When the Russian turned his gaze forward and noticed Izaya, his expression brightened.

"I-za-ya! Long time no sushi! Sushi miss you!" He held out a coupon with an air of familiarity, as if it hadn't been over a month since he had seen Izaya. "You miss sushi too?"

The informant couldn't stop the smile that appeared on his face. "I did miss sushi, fatty tuna especially! I'd love some right now!" He sniffed again and grew even more excited, if his nose was correct then they had just gotten fresh fish.

Simon looked surprised for a mere moment, examining the grin on the informant's face before he returned it with one of his own. "Yes! Month of no sushi, you need missing month sushi! Half-price deal, just for you!"

Izaya looked down at the coupon in his hand. "Simon, all the coupons say that sushi is half price."

"Half plus half price!"

The informant quirked an eyebrow. "Wouldn't that just be free food, then?"

Simon tilted his head and frowned, his eyes flickering as he tried to figure out what exactly he would charge Izaya for 'half plus half'. Then he grinned again, and spread his hands out wide. "Seventy five percent off for missing month sushi!"

He ushered the informant inside and gave him his own booth. Once the raven had settled down, Simon glanced around, crouched down by the table, and faced Izaya with a more serious expression on his face.

"Is everything alright? You disappeared for a long time, I thought you got killed, and now you're back, you have many scars, and acting strange." Simon asked in Russian, his conversational skills much better in his native language.

Izaya lifted his red eyes and scanned the Russian's face, but all he could see was genuine concern. He knew Simon was only human, so he doubted the Russian had any suspicions about Izaya's werewolf status.

He allowed himself a small smile as he dug up his own knowledge of Russian. "Don't worry, Simon. I just had to disappear for a bit, I met some people who helped me get back on the right track."

"Oh!" Simon gave him a curious look. "Does this mean that you are done trying to ransack this town?"

Izaya hummed in thought. He hadn't thought of that, he had been so busy with his job and his pack that his plans to try and awaken Celty's head had nearly been forgotten. As he recalled them in that moment, he found that the plans didn't bring him the glee they once did.

All of those plots left him feeling disgust for his former self. He didn't want to hurt people anymore, he wanted to care for and protect his pack, something that his former self would never have cared to do.

"Yes, Simon, I think that I am done." He looked at the Russian with a determined expression. "I have people I care for now, and I want to be someone that they can be proud of."

Simon's expression went from curious to jovial in mere moments. "I'm really glad to hear that, Izaya. I had always feared that your cowardice would be your undoing, but I am proud that you were finally brave enough to let people in."

A blush appeared on Izaya's face, and he turned his eyes to the table. "...So am I…"

"And you'd better bring them to Russian Sushi sometime, got it? I wanna meet them and thank them for helping you."

Izaya chuckled and nodded his head, amused by the Russian's eagerness. "I will, Simon, I promise."

The Russian gave one final grin before he stood up. "Wonderful!" He exclaimed in Japanese. "It's time to start missing month sushi! I will be back soon!"

Alone in the booth, Izaya allowed himself to relax after such a long day. His shoulder twinged from where Tom had bitten him, his feet hurt from all the running around, and his headache was very prominent thanks to all the new information he had received.

At least the day is over… He slumped forward slightly, rubbing a hand through his hair. I wish I could have found Bashira, but at least I have people who can help me look for her now. The Madame, Celty, the other vampire clans...

His stomach let out a growl of protest, no longer wanting to think about any of that stuff and instead focus on eating. He let out a weak chuckle as he found himself agreeing. Yes, it's time to stop thinking about that for now, let's just relax…

A shadow of a figure appeared on the table Izaya was sitting at. He blinked slowly and glanced up to see who it was. Instantly, his heart was racing with panic. He jumped to his feet and backed up against the small room's wall. "Sh-Shizuo!"

Shizuo looked surprised by Izaya's panicked behavior, and then was guilty moments after. He rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced. "Ah… Sorry, I probably should have warned you it was me…"

Izaya tried to quell the panic that gripped his heart and kept his hands hidden behind his back. When Shizuo had been preparing to attack him in Shinra's apartment, they had begun to turn into claws, he needed to make sure they couldn't be seen in case there was a repeat incident.

"What are you doing here, Shizuo?" The werewolf suspiciously asked.

Shizuo shuffled his feet and looked around the booth. "Um… Well… I came to find you because…" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Because… I want to apologize… To you."

Izaya frowned and tilted his head, waiting for the other shoe to drop. When Shizuo just looked at him expectantly, Izaya couldn't stop himself from raising his eyebrows in surprise. "You're… You're serious?"

The debt collector looked away, a pink blush dusting his cheek. "I- I wouldn't be doing it if I wasn't serious… I'm not a manipulative bastard like you…"

The informant hummed and crossed his arms, thankful that the claws were gone again. "Wow, that's quite an apology, Shizu-chan. I'm deeply moved," He deadpanned.

The blonde instantly bristled. "Hey! You stupid-" He cut himself off with a growl. "I only found out you're not an asshole anymore like an hour ago, gimme a break…"

Izaya held back any more snarky remarks that he wanted to make as he slowly moved to sit back down and motioned to the other side of the table. Shizuo hesitated, and then allowed himself to sit across from the informant.

The tension in the room increased tenfold as Shizuo sat rigidly and silently tried to work up the courage to speak. Izaya was quiet as well, he was afraid that if he spoke he would make the debt collector angry, so instead he observed.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he seemed to finally find the bravery. "I'm sorry… F-for trying to attack you, and not letting you talk and explain yourself. It was wrong of me to not even give you a chance, especially after Celty vouched for you." He quickly lifted his head and glared at Izaya. "But I'm not sorry for all the other stuff, you deserved it then."

Izaya snorted and let out a laugh. "Oh, don't worry Shizu-chan, I didn't expect you to apologize for all that. I should apologize to you, I was the one who was doing it to get a rise out of you. I shouldn't have sent those gangs after you, or taunted you, or any of the dozen things I did. I'm really sorry, but you don't have to forgive me. I wouldn't if I was in your shoes."

When he glanced upwards, he found Shizuo staring at him with a bewildered expression. When their eyes met, Shizuo quickly looked away and ran a hand through his messy bangs. "Damn… Celty wasn't kidding. You really have changed…"

"Oh, you listened to Celty, did you?" Izaya asked in a teasing tone.

Shizuo grumbled under his breath as he shrugged his shoulders. "She got really mad at me after you left, and told me everything. About your friends and the missing person." He shuddered. "So people are disappearing again? Why am I only hearing about this from you two and not the news?"

Izaya was thankful that he and Celty had come up with an excuse for that already. "W-well that's because they're taking people from a specific group of people. People that you wouldn't notice were missing unless you knew them, people who live on the fringes of society."

"Like your friend's sister?" Shizuo asked, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"Yes. Sayuri and her sister are technically runaways, they ran away from a bad home and lived on the streets for a while. They're doing much better now, but they have no family that would have noticed their absence. If my friend had gotten taken as well, we may not have found out for a long time."

That was a slight lie on Izaya's part. With werewolves going missing as often as they were, Jinsei likely would have tried to find Sayuri and Bashira right away. But the end result would have been the same as it was with only Bashira missing, they had reached a dead end.

"Oh, I see…" Shizuo scratched his nail against the table. "But Celty said you guys hit a dead end?"

Izaya wished he could tell Shizuo to drop the subject, the reminder of his failure hurt him more than when the debt collector insulted him, but he didn't want to shatter the tentative trust that they held.

"We followed all the leads we had, spoke to people who may have seen her, but we found nothing. I tried to use camera footage, but someone had deleted it before I got to it." He frowned and let out a small growl. "Whoever is doing this either is very careful, or they know that me and Celty are onto them."

"Or both," Shizuo suggested.

Izaya made an amused noise. "Or both, but I would like to hope that isn't the case. I've already disappeared for a month, I don't want to be kidnapped for even longer."

The debt collector across from him let out an amused chuckle, it was soft and sent Izaya's heart fluttering the slightest bit. The blonde looked up at Izaya and nodded his head. "Yeah, I don't think that would be very fun."

They descended into silence again, and Shizuo seemed to be thinking once more. "Well… Maybe I could help you search." At Izaya's surprised face, he quickly continued,"I-I mean I'm not a courier like Celty or some tech wiz like you, but I could keep my eyes out for anything suspicious."

"Really?" Izaya asked hopefully, unable to stop the grin that appeared on his face. "Oh, Shizu-chan, that would be amazing! Thank you!"

The blonde's eyes widened and his cheeks turned a bright red color. He quickly turned away and shrugged. "It's nothing crazy, I just thought I could try and help to make up for being an ass…" He muttered under his breath.

At the sight of his blush, Izaya felt his heart flutter once more. "I… W-well I appreciate it either way. The more eyes we have on the situation, the better."

It was at that moment that Simon returned, holding a giant plate with dozens of pieces of fatty tuna. "Oh, Shi-zu-o! You are just in time for missing month sushi! Sushi good! You can share!"

Izaya and Shizuo's eyes bulged at the sight of the plate. "S-simon! That's way too much! I don't think either of us can eat all that much!" Izaya stuttered out as the plate landed on the table with a thud.

"Then take leftovers! Sushi miss I-za-ya! Can't say no to sushi!" He grinned and gave a thumbs up. "Will go get tea, tea goes good with missing month sushi!"

Shizuo glanced at the huge plate and then at Simon's retreating form. "Holy shit… He'd better not bring back a ten gallon bucket of 'missing month tea' or some shit."

Izaya snorted and then burst out into a peal of giggles, which was soon followed by Shizuo's own laughter. It took the two of them several seconds to contain themselves, and by then Izaya was wiping tears out of the corners of his eyes.

The informant grabbed a piece of fatty tuna with his chopsticks and pointed at Shizuo. "I didn't know protozoans could have a sense of humor!"

Shizuo smirked, catching onto the fact that Izaya was merely joking. "And I didn't know that blood-sucking fleas could have a change of heart."

They shared a smile as Shizuo helped Izaya try to make a dent in the sushi. The tension in the air was gone, replaced by something that neither of them knew how to describe. But they both found that they enjoyed it much more than the rivalry they used to have.

Their gentle peace was interrupted by a ringing from Izaya's phone. He looked at the caller ID, and found that it was Eiji. Worried about his pack, he was quick to press the green call button. "Eiji-kun? Is everything okay?"

"Not really… Sayuri is still really beat up about everything that happened. Have… Have you found anything?"

Izaya felt guilt pool up in his chest as he slumped his shoulders and let out a sad sigh. "No, I didn't. I found some footage of her by the bay, but all the other cameras in the area were wiped clean. I'm so sorry… I- I'm gonna keep trying though."

Shizuo looked up from his tea, his eyebrows furrowing at the sight of Izaya's distraught expression.

"It's okay, Izzy. With all the disappearances, I'm surprised you found anything at all. Don't beat yourself up over it too much, okay?" Eiji ordered.

Izaya made a noise of agreement, not trusting his voice to not betray him by cracking.

There was shuffling on the other side of the phone. "I'm also calling because of something else. Jinsei is really beat up about this, you know how protective he can be and Bashira being missing is really hurting him." He cleared his throat. "He wanted to keep an eye on everyone for a few days and wanted to know if we could all stay at his apartment. Do you think you would be able to do that?"

Izaya didn't even need to think about it. "Of course I can! Let Jinsei know that I'll be there soon. I just need to pack a bag of clothes and stuff and I'll be on my way."

Eiji made a relieved noise. "I'll let him know, thanks Izzy. See you soon."

The line went dead, and Izaya was quick to stand up and stretch. "Sorry, Shizu-chan, I have to go. My friends and I are gonna stay with each other tonight and keep Sayuri company. She's still really beat up about everything, it's best if we're all together."

"It sounds like you're pretty beat up about it, too." Shizuo casually observed.

Izaya froze, briefly wondering if he should deny it. But the pain in his heart managed to win the fight. "I… I just…" He sighed and lowered his head. "I should have been able to find her, Shizu-chan… I'm one of the best informant brokers, and I couldn't find her…"

"I heard what your friend told you, flea," Shizuo replied, his voice firm. "He's right, you can't beat yourself up about this. You hit a dead end, but that doesn't mean she's gone forever. But if you run yourself into the ground, you'll be too exhausted to find anything."

The informant stared at Shizuo in surprise, and then let out a huff of air. "I know… You're both right." He let out a small smile. "You're surprisingly wise for a protozoan, Shizu-chan."

"And you're surprisingly selfless for a flea, Izzy."

Izaya's stomach was suddenly filled with butterflies as his heart thundered against his chest and his cheeks were bright red. He quickly grabbed the to-go box he had asked for earlier and muttered a hurried goodbye before hurrying out of the store.

Shizuo watched the other man go with a blush on his own cheeks. He hadn't meant to use the nickname he had overheard, it had just slipped out. But somehow the shortened name fit better than calling him a flea or a louse.

He thought about the informant's reaction, the blush on those pale cheeks, the smile from the joke he made earlier, his laugh… He let out a growl as his own blush got worse. "Damn it…" He muttered as he hurried out of the sushi shop as well, grumbling all the way home as he tried to work out his own confusing feelings.

The green van had been stuck in traffic for several hours, leaving the four occupants exhausted after a busy workday. Saburo tried to keep his eyes open and on the road while Kadota blinked drowsily, and Walker slept with his head against the window.

Erika was the only one awake, scrolling down her phone calmly until she suddenly stopped and her jaw dropped. A high pitched screech echoed in the van, and the three other occupants found themselves jerked awake, their ears ringing from the abrupt and violent noise.

Kadota spun around and glanced back at the wide eyed woman, prepared to fight whoever caused her to scream. "Erika! What is it, what's going on?!"

The girl stared at her phone with her jaw dropped. "I knew it… I knew it!" She whipped the phone around and shoved it at Kadota. "Look at it! I WAS RIGHT!"

Kadota, Walker, and Saburo all leaned forward to glance at the image on the screen and found it to be a captioned image of none other than the mortal enemies, Izaya and Shizuo, sitting together and laughing like they had never tried to kill each other.

The caption above the photo read "Izaya and Shizuo, no longer enemies?"

"Holy shit…" Kadota and Saburo whispered.

Erika's only response to that was a victorious squeal.

Jinsei's apartment was only a few buildings down from his bookstore, on the eleventh floor of a large building. It wasn't as large as Izaya's own penthouse, but was still quite spacious and had more than enough room for the weakened pack.

Despite the fact it was still a few weeks until the full moon, none of the pack particularly minded staying with their pack leader. Though not all of them voiced it, Bashira's sudden disappearance had left them all afraid. They were scared of being taken, scared of losing someone else.

In the darkness of the living room, a pile of wolves lay curled up on a pile of blankets and pillows. The record player played a random song at a low volume as background noise, helping to quell the fear they all felt.

In her sleep, Sayuri began to twitch and whimper. Sometimes her legs would thrash for a second, and she would call out her missing sister's name in a desperate plea. But no matter how much she cried the name, Bashira did not appear.

Blinking sleep from his eyes, Izaya twitched his ears and looked towards the ginger wolf. He maneuvered his way out from under Eiji's heavy form and stumbled over, letting his muzzle rest on the soft ginger fur.

With the moon as a witness, the black werewolf began to glow a gentle white light. Small white lights that looked like stars floated from his glow and fluttered down, landing on the ginger wolf's head and allowing a gentle glow to appear. The girl's twitching began to calm down, her twisted expression relaxing as her terrible nightmare was replaced by a calming dream.

The glow faded away, but Izaya didn't move. Eiji, who soon noticed the absence of Izaya's warm fur, soon followed and settled himself next to Sayuri's back with their fur touching. Yuina was already resting next to Sayuri, but gave the ginger fur a gentle lick. Mizuki and Shiro, curled up together, rested by the girl's back paws.

Awake and aware, Jinsei watched with pride as the pack formed a protective circle around the young werewolf. He was not a part of the pile, instead sitting just a few feet ahead. He formed a protective barrier between the pack and the front door.

His eyes scanned his pups, and landed on Izaya with a curious gaze. Although Izaya was too exhausted to realize what he had done, Jinsei had seen the whole thing. He let out a soft chuckle and shook his head.

"A dream weaver in my pack… It's been a long time since I've seen one..." He smiled at Izaya's slumbering form, and looked up towards the moon. "But somehow, I don't find myself the least bit surprised that you chose him."

With one last prideful gaze towards his pack, Jinsei settled down with his face towards the door and let his eyes slowly close, following the rest of his small family into a peaceful slumber.