A/N: These are short stories just for fun and feels. Don't think about them too much. Stories may not be in chronological order. This fic is also available on Ao3.

"Morning, Reisha."

The dark-furred wolf turned his head at the sound of his name, sweeping his tail in a welcoming gesture. "Koyaru. Good morning." If he were honest, his solitary patrol had been getting pretty boring, so he was glad to see his friend.

"Nothing new, I take it?" Koyaru's gray-black fur blended well within the shadows of the trees, but little escaped Reisha's keen sight.

"The forest is quiet, as usual," Reisha told him with a hint of exasperation. He did his duty without question, but even he wished for activity a bit more stimulating than sweeping the woods edging the clan's territory each and every day. Honorable or not, it was very poor entertainment for a werewolf like him.

Koyaru huffed, amused, as the two broke into a casual trot. "If I didn't know any better, Rei, I'd say you sound disappointed."

Well, he was. "You would be too, if you had the morning shift like I do. In fact, I suggest you try it."

Koyaru laughed. "Thanks, but no thanks. You're the 'distinguished heir', here. This is your job."

He was teasing, Reisha knew, but the words still rubbed him the wrong way. "My right and responsibility. I know, I know." He'd heard it once, he'd heard it a thousand times. Everything he did was to shape him into a capable leader, the future of the Nouzen clan. He knew that. But knowing it wasn't the same as being happy about it.

Koyaru realized the negative effect his words had on the mood, and frowned. "Don't say it like that. It's a great honor, protecting our borders. If you keep it up, you could even be recruited to the Imperial Guard one day."

"You think so?" Reisha muttered. Though he wanted to keep the conversation going, his interest had not been piqued in the slightest. He wasn't set on the idea of working under the iron fist of the imperial family, but that was something he couldn't voice aloud to anyone, not even Koyaru.

Koyaru, oblivious to Reisha's dilemma, nodded confidently. "Of course. You deserve nothing less as the son of the clan head." He smiled. "And my best friend."

At this, Reisha finally perked up. He shoved his friend good-naturedly. "Thanks, Koya. Come on. I'm almost done, and I don't think my father would mind too much if you tagged along just this once."

The wolves picked up their pace, the amicable atmosphere between them restored. Reisha's mind still lingered on their conversation, but he was still glad to have Koyaru with him to ease the loneliness he often felt, walking these woods alone.

The sun rose higher in the sky, morning became noon, and Reisha was beginning to think his patrol could end on a positive note for once when Koyaru suddenly paused, head turned in another direction.

"...What is it?" Reisha asked. The only thing that way was the river, which marked part of their western border and was not on this route.

"You wanted excitement, right?" the other wolf asked, an odd sort of light in his eyes. "Well, I smell a fox."

With that, he bounded through the bushes.

Reisha groaned. He too had scented fox on the wind, but he thought Koyaru of all people would have a little more discipline than to go chasing whatever wildlife he came across. "Koyaru, come back!" he called as he reluctantly followed. "Let's at least finish the round first!"

He emerged on the bank, where Koyaru was glaring down at a small red fox on the other side of the river, which had probably been taking a drink. For some reason, he was talking to it.

"Back again, red-eyes?" Koyaru sneered. "You never learn your lesson, do you?"

The fox returned his hostile gaze. Then she spoke, and several things clicked in Reisha's head. "Last I checked, this isn't Nouzen territory, coal dog."

This earned her a snort from Koyaru. And before Reisha could say anything about it, he barked, "You're still a little too close for comfort, Maika. Why don't you scamper back to whatever hole you crawled out of, or should me and my friend escort you there?"

It was then that the fox–in all likelihood, a Pyrope werefox from the Maika clan–appeared to notice Reisha standing on the wayside for the first time. Her anger was swiftly replaced by wariness. There were two of them now, after all, and wolves were obviously larger than foxes. Still, she stood her ground, and Reisha didn't know whether to be impressed or concerned.

"I have as much right to be here as either of you," she said, though with markedly less confidence than before.

The problem was, she was right. There really wasn't any reason to pick a fight here. Unfortunately, Koyaru was as against Pyropes–and the Maikas in particular–as any of the Nouzens, so running off a single fox was an easy victory.

"If it's your right, then you'll fight to defend it, won't you?" Koyaru said mockingly. Then, to Reisha's discomfort, he looked at him expectantly.

Reisha shifted on his paws, wishing he had gone on alone after all. But it was too late for that kind of thinking. He was a Nouzen, first and foremost. This was how they did things. "Koyaru's right," he said finally. "You should get going. A fox doesn't stand a chance against a wolf."

Koyaru lifted his head proudly, while Reisha's stomach churned. He told himself that it was better this way. The river was not fast or deep. If a wolf really meant it, they could be on the other side in two bounds. He didn't want any more issues than there already were.

The werefox looked from one wolf to the other, bristling with anger. "You Nouzens are all the same," she growled. Then she whirled around and stalked off.

Koyaru laughed. "Foxes. All they can do is yap. No wonder the Guard doesn't want any of their kind, right?"

Reisha turned away from the river, stiff-legged. "...Don't leave the path again, Koyaru."

The other Onyx frowned, obviously expecting a different reaction, but followed without another word.

–––––––––

"Ow. Ow. Ow."

Reisha slid to the ground, wincing. To say his training could have gone better was a gross understatement. He was bruised and scratched and sore all over, and it was all he could do just to make it to the river. Out here, alone and in the quiet, he was allowed to ruminate. Or more specifically, stew in his growing resentment.

His training was always harder, his tasks more complicated and, if he failed in either of those, his family's disapproval more severe. It wasn't fair. He knew there were plenty of others drooling over the prospect of becoming the head of the clan, or being sent to the Imperial Guard.

And Reisha was expected to do both, when he was interested in neither. He knew there was a wide world somewhere beyond the empire, and he wanted to see it for himself.

But thanks to circumstances beyond his control, he never would. Knowing full well what his father would say if he saw him, Reisha drew his knees to his chest and put his head in his arms. At least he was alone.

Except, not quite.

"Well, well, look who it is?"

Reisha's heart sank. He hadn't heard it in weeks, but he recognized her voice. And it was because he recognized it that he didn't respond. Unfortunately, she took that as a sign to continue.

"What's the matter? Finally got beat up by someone bigger and stronger than you? Couldn't 'fight for your rights' or something?" she snickered.

Irked, he looked up.

She was in human form, standing on the other side of the river, her long red hair swaying in the breeze. Those blazing red eyes held not an ounce of sympathy.

"Is this about before?" Reisha asked wearily. "Do you want an apology or something?"

"Maybe if you mean it, or say it in front of all your wolf friends," the Pyrope told him, "but you're a coward, so I know that's never going to happen. I think I'll just bask in the sight of one of the mighty Nouzen clan being brought so low instead."

Her taunting, coupled with the shame from that incident and the pain from his wounds, spurred him to his feet, bristling as if he were still a wolf, his pent-up emotions boiling over. "You think you're so funny, don't you? It's easy to say that when nobody expects anything from you, but my family actually has standards for me! Goals I need to meet no matter what! Don't act like you know anything about me when you can't even–"

He took a step and broke off, pain lancing through his leg. He sank onto the grass again, the fire burnt out. Instead he settled and glowered at the Maika girl. "What are you even doing here, anyway? You know Koya is just going to chase you off again if he sees you–anyone in my clan would. Why do you bother with that when you can just go somewhere else?"

"Because I don't want to go somewhere else," she shot back. "I have a choice, and I choose to be here. I don't care how many of you dogs come my way. I'll always come back." To make her point, she promptly sat on the grass and crossed her arms. "And just so you know, my family also expects things from me. A lot of things. But I'm not going to let that dictate my whole life." To his surprise, she sounded, fed-up. "I won't. I'll make my own decisions, even if they don't like it."

"Why?" Reisha pressed, frustrated by her frustration. Did she really think that if she dug in her heels hard enough, everyone else would give in and let her do what she wanted? "You can't just act out and do whatever and expect everything to just fall in place! It doesn't work that way! If you just accept your role and do what you're told, everything will be fine!" There's no point in doing anything else.

"...And what if it isn't?" Her voice had none of the fury or vitriol it did before. Rather, it was quiet. Pensive. Her eyes were on the water, but she seemed to stare right through without seeing it. "What if I do everything they want, everything they all ask of me…and it's still not enough? What if I'll have wasted my entire life for no reason at all?"

She looked up at him. "I only get one. That's it. I don't know if there's a heaven after this, or if I come back as something else, or anything like that. All I know is I have one chance to go anywhere I want to go. See anything I want to see. I wasn't born chained to a wall, or locked in a cage, or down in a hole. I wasn't born an animal that doesn't know how to do anything besides what its owner says. I don't have any excuse not to live my life freely."

Reisha could only stare. The girl grabbed a stone and threw it into the river with a splash. "So that's what I'm going to do. Not that you'd understand, anyway. I don't even know why I'm talking to you about this."

Reisha thought he knew, for the same reason he had his outburst just now. He suspected she had never been able to speak her thoughts–her real thoughts–to anyone else before.

The girl glared at him again, though she seemed more sullen than anything, as if she couldn't believe the depths to which she'd stooped, talking about her inner feelings to someone like him. "Any more questions, Nouzen?"

Reisha had a ton, but one came from his mouth before he could dwell on any of them.

"What's your name?"

The girl narrowed her eyes. "Why do you care?"

"I want to be able to blame the right person for putting all these weird thoughts in my head." And weird they were. Unorthodox. Unprecedented. But not…unwelcome.

She cracked a sardonic smile. "It's Yuuna. And you're welcome."

Reisha leaned back, closing his eyes. "Yuuna," he repeated thoughtfully.

"Aren't you going to tell me yours? It's only fair," Yuuna prompted.

Fair enough, he thought. After all, what harm could it do? Interesting as this conversation was, he didn't plan on seeing her again after this.

"Reisha."

–––––––––

"So, here you are again."

"Well, I did warn you." Yuuna idly splashed the water, unconcerned. "And you're here too, for some reason."

Reisha studied a round pebble he'd plucked from the river's edge. "Yes, because there's no rule that says I can't be here."

"Nice to know you took my words to heart."

Reisha leaned back, letting the grass cushion his back. "Maybe not to heart, but I'll admit you gave me something to think about. So good on you for that, I guess."

Yuuna was quiet for a few seconds, long enough for Reisha to hope the conversation died then and there. Then she spoke up. "You didn't bring your friend."

"Oh, so you noticed," Reisha couldn't keep the sarcasm out of his response.

"Why?"

She sounded both puzzled and wary, which made him sigh. "If you're expecting some kind of ambush or something, I'll have to let you down on that. I asked Koya to take the north side today."

"And why did you do that?" Yuuna persisted.

Reisha's brow furrowed in annoyance. "Maybe because I don't feel like getting into a fight today? I like peace and quiet too, you know. There's no deeper meaning behind it."

"Hm," Yuuna said thoughtfully. "Not really an apology, but I guess it's a step."

Reisha sat up. "An apology?"

"Yes. For last time."

"You're still upset about that?" he groaned.

Yuuna stared at him. He saw lingering traces of distrust and resentment in her deep red eyes, and it pained him to think of the choice he'd made that day. To stand passively aside and choose the path of least resistance, just for convenience's sake.

But without Koyaru and any other Nouzen here, he slowly let himself reevaluate his decision. He thought about how he would feel to be threatened by someone bigger and stronger, and see the only other person with the power to change that actively choose not to. The guilt in that person's eyes would have made him resent them even more, for they knew what they did was unjust.

Looking back, it was no wonder she still hung on to her dislike of him. Reisha tossed the pebble into the water. "...I'm sorry," he told her earnestly.

Yuuna blinked, taken aback. "...Really?"

"Yes. What I did wasn't right. I could've said something to Koya, but I didn't. I'm sorry we ran you out. Our families aside, you didn't deserve that."

The redheaded girl took a moment to digest that. "Okay. I'm sorry, too. For calling you a coward the other day. I know how it feels to be under pressure, especially from family or friends. It's not something you can ignore easily. Not like everyone says."

Her words had lost the hard edge they'd always had when she spoke to him. It made him think that, maybe, they'd reached a sort of middle ground, and he relaxed on the grass again. "Any more questions, Maika?"

"Now? No," Yuuna said, sounding amused. "But some other time…maybe."

–––––––––

"Apples or oranges?"

"Apples."

"Waffles or pancakes?"

"Pancakes."

"Cats or dogs?"

"Cats."

Yuuna smirked. "Seriously?" she asked, tossing the small, bead-filled bag across the river to him again.

And again, he caught it deftly and threw it back to her. "Surprised?"

"I mean, a werewolf who prefers cats over dogs? Sounds like heresy."

Reisha chuckled at that. "I wouldn't say that. Werewolves actually don't have a problem with cats, it's really just–" He paused, the little trinket poised to throw.

"Foxes?" Yuuna guessed.

Reisha fidgeted with the beanbag, which was painted red with a fox face on it. "I shouldn't say 'werewolves'. Truth is, only Nouzens would have a problem with werefoxes. They have a problem with anything that isn't 'one of us'."

"Even humans?"

"Especially humans. My clan is one-hundred percent Onyx werewolf, you know that? No other ethnicity or type of Animali is ever allowed membership. They want to keep it that way as long as possible, which means no mingling with humans outside of business. Not even fellow Onyxes. My father would say it's just to protect them, but…" He threw the toy back, moody.

Yuuna examined it. "Maikas are the same," she said. "Foxes, and foxes only. The only Pyrope clan who'd still do that. The others look up to us, call us 'pure'. I can't stand it," she grumbled. "I'll marry a human if I want to."

"Or a werewolf?" Reisha teased. He'd only meant it as a joke to lighten the mood, and fully expected her to scoff at him, but Yuuna merely continued to stare at the bag.

When she threw it back, it was so sudden that Reisha fumbled it and nearly sent it into the river. "Maybe," she mused, "once I get to know him better."

Reisha assumed this was also a joke, but now he wasn't entirely sure. Before he could ask–or decide if he even wanted to–a call rose up from within the trees. "Reisha! Are you at the river again? Is that fox still around?"

Reisha and Yuuna scrambled to their feet. "It's Koya," he whispered.

"That's my cue," Yuuna said, turning to leave.

"Wait, what about this?" he asked, holding up the fox beanbag.

Yuuna waved a hand. "Keep it. There's a ton where that came from." And the next moment, she was gone.

Without even thinking about it, Reisha stuffed the bag in his pocket before going out to meet Koyaru.

–––––––––

"Ugh, that fox's scent is still here," Koyaru growled in disgust.

"Really?" Reisha asked innocently. "We haven't seen her by the river in months, though."

"I know, and I don't get it! She's gone. So why does it feel like she's still here?" Koyaru shook his head vigorously, as if trying to rid his nose of the fox smell.

"Let's split up, then," Reisha suggested. "You head west along the riverbank, and I'll look around here. I'm sure my father would appreciate you going out of your way to keep our land free of Pyropes," he added when his friend didn't look convinced.

Koyaru perked up. "You know, I'm glad you're finally taking this seriously."

"Mhm."

"And you know, you look almost happy going on the morning patrol these days."

"Do I?"

"Yeah. I'm proud of you, Rei. Finally coming into your own, you are." He bounded away.

"Now, that wasn't very nice," a feminine voice chided him lightly. Lately, Reisha found that it was rather pleasant to hear, and he felt the urge to smile. He schooled his face into a neutral expression, however, when he saw her crawl out from under the bushes behind him.

"We don't have any excuse for you being on this side of the river. I had to distract him with something."

"How noble of you, especially since this was your idea to bring me here," she teased. Underneath that, though, he could tell she really was grateful, and his tail started wagging of its own accord.

Yuuna's face turned impish. "Oh, is that a wag I see?"

Reisha felt hot under his fur. "I don't know what you're talking about," he muttered, walking off. His tail continued to wag, and Yuuna followed, eyes shining with mirth.

–––––––––

"...I see."

"Yeah."

Yuuna glanced over at Reisha, who was staring down into his lap, melancholic. "So, that's why you haven't gone back to training with the others?"

He nodded, head in his hands. "I know I'm only stalling, but I just can't go back there. Not yet."

"What did your father say?"

"Said it was an accident, that I just got carried away and 'forgot myself'. Koya though, he looked…pleased."

Yuuna folded her arms. "Why am I not surprised?"

"It's not just him," Reisha said, feeling the need to come to his friend's defense. "They're all happy that I'm finally embracing my role as the next clan head." He didn't like remembering it, their stunned faces as he stood over his bloodied opponent, muzzle stained to reflect his act.

"Does breaking your opponent's leg with a bite contribute towards 'embracing your role'?" Yuuna asked. She sounded more curious than anything, but Reisha tensed, as if expecting the accusations to start at any moment.

"If you do it in one, yes," he said in a small voice. "Ours is the strongest bite of all the clans. It's why the Guard recruits from us more often than not. I heard some of the seniors talking, saying they've never seen a break like that before. They were impressed."

Yuuna laid a hand on his shoulder. He stiffened, but didn't move. "But you're not."

"Of course not!" Reisha cried, distressed. "Moro's bone was shattered, Una. He may never walk again. Am I supposed to be proud of that? And they want me to be a knight for the Emperor, so I can, what? Do the same thing to anyone they send my way, for any reason? Can I do that to fellow Animali? To humans?"

"Relax," Yuuna said soothingly, sensing his spiraling panic. "It's okay. I know you're not proud of it, but why don't we try seeing it another way?"

"Like what?"

"Well, it's your gift, Rei." The way she said his nickname calmed him. It was somehow different from the way Koyaru said it. "We already talked about how we're going to live life the way we want, right? This is the same."

She picked up a stone from the riverbank and threw it in the water, the sound feeling oddly nostalgic to Reisha. "You choose how you use this. An ability like yours can be used to protect the people you care about. I know it can, because I know you. You don't have to be afraid of it. But if you still need someone to talk to about this, then…I'll be here. Always."

She held his gaze, and for a single moment, Reisha could believe that all of his problems would fade away as long as she was here with him.

Eventually, he had to look away. "Thank you, Yuuna."

–––––––––

"Come on!"

"Nope!"

"Reisha!"

Yuuna jumped up, but once again fell short of reaching the apple he held high above her head. Reisha laughed as she chased him around the tree, the autumn leaves drifting around them in the breeze.

Months had passed, and he had grown even taller. Not Yuuna though, and that bothered her a good deal, mostly because of things like this. "You're gonna have to try harder than that if you want this back, shortstack," Reisha taunted her.

In doing so, he looked over his shoulder, and failed to see the tree root jutting out of the ground. Naturally, he stumbled over it. "Woah!"

He windmilled, trying to regain his balance, and Yuuna, seizing her chance, tackled him. "Gotcha!" The two of them tumbled over each other, down the hill and into a pile of leaves. Yuuna landed on top of Reisha, and she laughed as she pushed herself up–but not off–and shook leaf mulch from her hair.

She grinned down at him. "Well, Rei? Not bad for a 'shortstack', right?"

Reisha opened his mouth to speak, and found he couldn't. The sunlight filtered through the trees and dappled Yuuna's hair, which fell down in a curtain around her face–and his. Her smile was warm, her crimson eyes mischievous, and even though he's seen them dozens of times by this point, right now, it almost felt as though he were seeing them, seeing her, for the very first time.

He felt a twinge in his heart as two realizations hit him at the exact same time.

One, he realized that Yuuna Maika was beautiful.

Two, he realized that, of all the times they'd gone out to meet, this was the first time he truly felt as if he were committing some sort of act of betrayal by being with her.

A/N: Okay okay. I know what I said about sticking to oneshots from here on, but in my defense, this was a oneshot originally, it just got so long I had to split it in two, which is why I'm uploading both parts simultaneously. So, doesn't count.

Anyways, Happy New Year everyone! Welcome to the brand new (and hopefully improved) 2022, and I hope you enjoy this special two-parter featuring Shin's own parents! …And a new guy, I guess.