A/N: To Hieilover: Indeed! 00. To Black Panther Wolf: Yes, I know you gave me the idea. Thank you!

–hugs-.

To Everyone: Sorry about the last chapter and about the late update. I'm trying to de-crappify the previous chapters...

And I realized something...Kiba has his own little man-harem (aka his pack) XD. And we're drawing ever so close to the HARDCORE YAOI MANSEX chapter.

Reign of Stars/I Need You Now

Tsume awoke to find Toboe gone. His heart started to race. He searched around the place they were sleeping a dozen times, calling out his name. The small wolf would not answer and could not be found.

"Toboe! Toboe! Come out, dammit! This isn't funny!"

Kiba and Cheza awoke at his yelling, grumbling. Kiba ran a hand through his tousled hair and yawned. "What's the matter?"

Tsume continued to search for his lover. Where was he? He couldn't live without him. Strange that he was now dependent on a pup for affection and comfort. If this was some kind of trick, he would throttle the runt first, and then make love to him later. Hard, so he wouldn't be able to walk for a week.

Cheza tugged at the sleeve of Kiba's coat and smiled timidly. She was enjoying this. Everyone though they knew her so well. The pure Flower Maiden who always thought of others before herself. Ha! Kiba looked into those scarlet orbs of hers and felt a chill run down his spine. He knew she had something to do with this, but he had no proof. He fell out of love with her at that moment. He could never love someone who would hurt those close to him.

Tsume continued his search in vain, and then coming to his senses, sat on his haunches and howled. He waited for a moment, still nothing. And to Kiba's horror and bewilderment, he saw tears prick the sides of Tsume's golden eyes. He blinked them back quickly, so no one would see him crying over some kid.

The gray wolf looked at Kiba, making a quick decision. "Kiba, you and Cheza go on without me. Me and Toboe'll catch up."

The white wolf nodded, knowing the depths of Tsume's love for Toboe. He would have done the same for Hige. Kiba and Cheza walked on.

Tsume glanced upwards at the dark foliage of the trees. "Toboe..."

Toboe was just above him, awake and panicking more with every passing moment. The trees creaked and groaned all around him. One particular birch tree took the liberty and made a noise that sounded like laughter. Toboe bit at it, hurting his teeth in the process.

"Tsume! Tsume!" he called out, to no avail. No one could reach him where he was. Nobody could help him. So he decided to help himself. He continued to bite at the trees, which made pained groans and dropped him towards the ground. The trees put up a fuss, though. They stabbed him with their branches, slicing him to the bone. Toboe, although small, was as stubborn as hell, and did not stop his tirade until he found himself in Tsume's lap.

Toboe smiled at Tsume's surprised face. "Hey."

Tsume smiled, then kicked him. Toboe found himself face down in the mud. He looked at the gray wolf, tears welling up. "What did I do?"

Tsume beckoned the brown wolf over and when he came to him, kissed him softly. "Never do that again."

Toboe buried his head in Tsume's chest and smiled blissfully. "Don't worry. I won't."

"Is there anything worse than a gang leader and a runt ready to bang each other?"

The teasing voice belonged to Hige, who stood there arrogantly. A strange human stood next to him, giggling.

Toboe blushed while Tsume smiled, surprisingly. "It's about time you got here, Porky. Kiba and Cheza just went ahead. If you want to declare your love for him, now would be a good time."

Hige did, indeed, follow their trail while Phantasm waited with Tsume and Toboe. The odd wolf smiled at them, "You guys are hopeless."

END/I Need You Now

A/N: Finally, the beginning of the end! : C. Don't worry, I'm working on another Wolf's Rain fic.