Unfolding…

Akira stared at Chi blankly, not fully registering what it meant for her to be here. Chi didn't wait, wrapping arms around his neck and kissing his cheeks; when he finally responded, it was to push her away.

"What are you doing here..?" Akira asked, straining not to yell; he couldn't disrespect her, for it was her and her family who had taken him in after the fire and taken care of him. "You're supposed to be taking care of the pack."

"The pack…" for a moment, all sinister airs were gone from all four of the weres. "Akira… I'm sorry…"

"What happened?" Akira growled, fearing the worst.

"We can't go back to them once you take me as a mate, because they've kicked me out," Chi answered easily. "They thought I took my power over them all too seriously… something about not letting them even encounter humans on a random basis…"

Akira sighed in relief. "You had me afraid that something like the Fire had happened again…" With bad thoughts pushed from his mind, he moved past her and started walking back towards the Moonshine; he wouldn't be able to pick up Nekoi's scent again until the rain had passed.

"Don't you understand..?" she grabbed onto his arm, and Hotaka even dared to step infront of him. "They don't want us to be together! They just don't understand our love…"

"Chi," Akira glared at her. "I don't want us to be together either. I left so that I could find my chosen mate. I ended up getting new friends along the way, and a new cause, but so help me if and when I return to the pack, it'll be with Nekoi, NOT you!"

Shrugging out of her grasp, he headed back towards the Moonshine.

------

When Akira entered the Moonshine again, the first thing he noticed was Nekoi's scent. He looked around expectantly, but didn't see her amongst the growing crowd of people… then Chi and her two 'body guards' entered as well.

"Akira," Nozomu smiled at him, almost sadly. "She came back here… but she left, just a couple of minutes ago."

"Wha…?" He blinked, and cursed silently under his breathe.

"That's lucky," Chi giggled behind him, attempting to lean into his back; he side-stepped away from her, causing her to stagger.

"Don't touch me," he hissed at her, then headed towards the bar.

"Who're you're friends?" Nozomu asked; everyone else was either waiting tables or taking a turn singing.

"They're not friends," Akira muttered out dryly; but they followed him to the bar. "Just annoyances that don't want o leave me alone."

"But Akira-kun…" Chi pouted, sitting on a stool.

"You were here before," Nozomu grinned. "You and those other girls were the early group… you're cute."

"Thanks, but no thanks," she rolled her eyes at him.

"You're a bloody hypocrite," Akira glared at her. "You'll easily say no when someone fawns all over you, but when I tell you that I have absolutely no interest in you and that you can go burn in hell, you insist that I'm talking about someone else."

"Because no one could ever love you more than me," Chi giggled.

Akira poured himself a glass of raspberry wine, and gulped it down before pouring another. "How about my mate..?" Akira asked. "Bet she loves me more than you."

"She ran away before you could finish the ceremony," Chi answered cheekily, her eyes narrowing slightly at the memory of Nekoi… "How could you even think to compare my love for you to a run away..?"

"Because I love her back..?" Akira challenged, downing another glass; and idea came to him. "It was probably you're bloody fault she left, anyways. And because she never finished the ceremony, you shouldn't be pining over me. Unless the bond was broken by death, then neither person in the ceremony can claim a new mate. You should know this." Alls he could do was pray she would believe it…

"That's bull," Chi rolled her eyes.

Damn it… he poured more wine. She caught my bluff.

"Um…" Nozomu blinked, looking between the two. "Akira, can I talk to you…?" He didn't waste time waiting for and answer before pulling the werewolf towards the stairs that took them to the upper floor.

"What do you want, Nozomu…?" Akira asked once they hit the top stair; the music was still loud enough that even if he hadn't had super human hearing, he would have been able to name each note.

"What's going on..?" Nozomu asked. "You have a mate? This girl just… won't even take no for an answer. It's the second time we've seen those big guys – Daiki and Hotaka? – today, and the mystery girl mentioned them before she left… speaking of that mystery girl, she's one of us."

"I know," Akira said dryly. "Her name is Nekoi. She grew up with me."

"Then… why didn't she recognize you when she first came here..?"

"I don't know," Akira sighed in frustration, and sat down on the stairs. Nozomu sat beside him. "She just… she didn't know me then. Just like she didn't know me the day I saw her before she disappeared. Just like she didn't know me when I told her who she was out in the rain today; she didn't even know herself."

"Amnesia..?" Nozomu offered. Akira blinked at him. "Hey, don't look at me like that! You're gonna have to tell me everything, in detail, once this is all said and done, but for now lets deal with this… okay?"

"Okay."