Chapter 1

Yamato was no good at saying goodbye.

It was hard for him at the end of every school year, as goodbyes were said to the older children who graduated or transferred to other schools. The end of summer camp was no different, with the exception of some of the kids he knew that he'd see again. It was hard when his grandmother passed away, but worst of all, he couldn't face anyone, not even his own father, for weeks after he was separated from Takeru and his mother.

Sometimes, they said the word, and sometimes, they didn't. Every time, however, he was left behind, without knowing whether it mattered if he said it back.

He wondered if it mattered, now that he was the one about to leave.

It wouldn't, anyway. Not if anyone else found out what he really was.

Yamato left the Ishida home on that cold, autumn evening. His father wasn't going to be home until late from work, so it was easier to walk away from an empty apartment, even with the guilt he carried with him.

He never told his father about his other life. He had only kept his distance since it first happened. He never told him about his newfound love for meat, or the thrill he got as he ran through the forest at the edge of the city, the cold wind blasting against his cheeks. He never explained why he turned up home later in the night than his father did, and he did well to brush off the fur from his jacket and to cover the claw marks on his skin.

"Dude, where are you? You never answer your phone anymore."

"Not even a text back? Really, Yama?"

Yamato put his phone back into his pocket as soon as he took it out to read the messages, and kept on walking as a light drizzle fell from above. He decided to ignore Taichi, his best friend, as he did most of the time. Why would this time be any different?

Taichi had no idea about Yamato's ability to transform, either; although, Yamato did sense that he was suspicious. Taichi tried to press him for answers, asking why he turned away from being a vegetarian all of a sudden, and since when did he get some tone in his muscles? It offended Taichi that Yamato was working out after all those times he invited him to the university gym.

Yamato's phone buzzed, and he nearly threw it out onto the street, annoyed with being pestered by Taichi. But, when he looked at the screen, the name that popped up was one that he knew he would never ignore.

"Takeru," he said, with the phone against his ear.

"Nii-san…" Takeru's voice was calm, but apprehensive. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"It's the only way."

Takeru was the first to find out about Yamato. It was after he had been dragged and cornered into an alley by three men looking for a fight. They threw a few punches before they heard a growl that they never expected to hear in the inner city, nor did they expect to see a dangerous creature lurking the streets. The three men ran, and when Takeru walked home, the creature followed, which Takeru found unnerving yet oddly comforting at the same time. He felt safe enough that he didn't have to call for his older brother to come after him.

Then, as Takeru was about to insert his key into the lock, he heard the animal fall to its side and let out a low whimper. He never imagined that he would see his older brother lying in its place soon after. He gasped with the key slipping from his hand, and he ran to Yamato's side, realizing that his older brother, in a different form, had been with him all along.

"Please… Nii-san…"

Even as he walked closer to the forest, Yamato felt his heart break at the sound of Takeru's voice. It nearly convinced him to turn around and run back. Run to Takeru, and make sure he was safe.

But the forest was where he had to go. It was where he would join the pack of animals that were the same as the one he turned into. Staying in the world as he was now made him a danger to those around him, a danger to those he deeply cared for, a danger to himself. Escaping deep into the forest was the only way to protect those that he loved.

No one would ever accept a monster like him.

"You never made me feel alone in this world, Nii-san," said Takeru. "I'm begging you to stay. You don't have to be alone in this."

"Takeru, I'm not normal. I am not all human, but not all beast. Whatever happens to me, I'll always be alone."

Yamato stopped walking when he hung up the call, the rain falling faster now. He realized where he was and looked up at the building in front of him, staring at the light from the window a few floors up. She wasn't near her desk by the window, which made him figure that she had fallen asleep on her bed as got the last of her studying done for the night.

It was typical for Sora to do that, even on her busiest days with lectures at university, with her part time job at her mother's shop to top it off. Even then, he knew that she was waiting for him to stop by.

She found out about him during one night when he wanted to come over to have a talk. She had just made dinner for him, and she was telling him about some news on campus about mysterious animal sightings around town. Just as she picked up dinner off of the stove, she realized Yamato's clothes were sprawled on the floor, and she caught sight of the animal in her own kitchen, causing her to turn the pan upside down, spilling dinner all over and burning her hand in the process. Cautiously, he edged closer to her in his animal form, anticipating for her to jump back.

He was the one who recoiled first as she took her free hand to touch his cheek. When he let her, she trailed her fingers along his fur, and he felt the odd pleasure of being scratched behind his ear.

"This was what you wanted to talk about?" Sora had whispered to him once he had returned human and put his clothes back on. Then, she laughed as Yamato held her hand to tend to it. "I was afraid you were going to break up with me."

She was the only one who made him smile.

Breaking up with Sora was the last thing that Yamato wanted to do, not when he first shared his dark secret to her and everything that went along with it. He had confided in her about all of those times he wanted to run away—even as she protested—how he quit his band after he nearly transformed in his ever-growing rage. He had told her about how he ran into a pack of his kind in the forest, not all of them welcoming, and he even fretted about where the hell did he even fit in anymore.

Lightning flashed, followed by the rumbling of thunder. Time was of the essence, and he knew that they were waiting for him in the forest. Soon, he would join the animals like him, and he would leave his human life behind forever.

Yamato stared at the window for a little while longer before finally turning away from the one person he never wanted to say goodbye to.

As he walked down the quiet street, his ears perked up as he sensed them. Two men walking a few feet behind him, following his every step. He continued to walk along, but his stomach turned as he recognized who these two were. Their quickening footsteps behind him confirmed that they were out to get him.

He ran as fast as he legs carried him, but they ran just as quickly. He knew he could speed up once he transformed, but he couldn't run the risk of anyone else seeing, not while he was still in town.

Just as Yamato was in the forest's reach, they knocked him down, catching him off guard as he tumbled down the hill towards the trees of the forest.

"You'll pay for what your friends did to my brother!" one of them yelled angrily.

"Eiji… Kaoru…" Yamato called to the two young men as he struggled to lift himself up from the tumble. "Don't follow me. You'll be in more danger than you realize."

"Don't think we'll let you get away with what you did, Ishida," said the other. "We know everything about you. Your family. Your friends. Takeru. Sora. We'll get you and the rest of those monsters, and we'll get the rest of your family, too!"

"No, you won't," he said, gaining strength as he used his arms to rise on his knees. He clenched his fists and breathed heavily, feeling the anger rising in his chest with each breath. He felt himself take a deep breath, and he lifted his eyes past their menacing gazes while they closed in on him, only going higher and higher until he was blinded by rage the moment his eyes rose to the moon.

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At the sound of the howl, Sora sat up on her bed, wide awake.

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