Chapter Six

– Calling After You –

Tsume stood in the lobby of the hospital and he kept his head down. Someone walked up to him and handed him a drink and he looked up to notice Toboe.

"Thanks," he replied and Toboe smiled then sat down next to him.

"I didn't know there would be more of our kind," Toboe said out and Tsume glanced at him. "I knew there would be other wolves but I never thought of finding them all in one day."

The other wolf kept quiet and he smirked slightly while thinking of the human who was now staying in a room.

"Perhaps you came to this town…because of something," Toboe whispered and Tsume eyed the younger wolf.

"Something? What would that something be?"

"I don't know," the younger wolf smiled while looking at the nurses laughing gently while telling each other jokes, "It's just a feeling that I have deep inside. It calls me…I don't know what it is but there's something to it."

"I don't believe that," Tsume said out and he got up then headed out of the doors.

He looked out into the distance and thought of what the younger wolf had told him. Simply he shrugged it off and headed off but then spotted the human girl and the other wolf. He narrowed his eyes on them and focused carefully on the two.

Kiba and Aiko were sitting next to each other and she was wiping away her tears with the handkerchief she received back from Toboe. Kiba looked at her and felt her sobs and could smell the salt and sudden numbness in the air.

"Stupid jerk," Aiko mumbled through the handkerchief and breathed deeply. "All that time he didn't know!"

"Why didn't you tell him?" Kiba asked and she looked at him.

"I'm not very good-," Aiko hiccupped and straightened up, "with confessing my feelings."

"You seem very good in losing things and eating."

Aiko glared at Kiba then she looked away from him. She hiccupped once more then wiped away the remaining tears off of her cheeks. She then cleared her throat and placed away her handkerchief then looked at Kiba.

"W-why did y-you come here?" she asked while taking in quick gasps of breath.

"I don't know," he said out while looking up into the sky and Aiko narrowed her eyes on him.

'What an interesting guy…it seems he's some what- oh I don't know!'

"You should have just stayed behind," she told him and Kiba only smiled softly.

"Perhaps so but then there would be nothing else to do. Well, since you're done crying…you should go see your friend."

"Yeah…"

"I have a question to ask you."

"What is it?"

"Will you…"

Aiko's eyes widened as he started off the question. 'Oh my gosh…is he going to ask me out? Wait a minute, what am I thinking? What is he going to say? Is he going to ask me if I'm interested in him? Oh wait, this can't be it! Why am I thinking this?'

"Will you…show me your necklace?" he asked and Aiko slumped over then fell to the ground.

Tsume watched carefully and noticed the girl sitting on the bench again. She then pulled something out from her school uniform and as he noticed what it was…his eyes widened in surprise and his pupils quickly changed shaped. He could feel something inside of him responding to a certain call.

It seemed extremely odd on how the sunlight landed on the two figures sitting next to each other. As Aiko was holding the small bottle the light shined upon it and made it seem as if it was glowing. Kiba watched it in awe and his hands gently went up to the glass and Aiko smiled softly.

"Beautiful huh?" she asked while laughing gently, "I found it in the streets some time ago-."

Her eyes widened in a sudden numbing surprise. It seemed as if she had this conversation before. Her eyes went to Kiba and the thought of the white dog came into her mind. It was strange but it seemed that animal was somewhere near once more. In either way she didn't care for now because she was with someone that comforted her…well, for that time.

"That's funny…" Aiko whispered and Kiba looked at her. "Everything seems so…so familiar," she said out bluntly and Kiba was taken back a bit. "It feels like…I've known you from somewhere," she smiled then she placed away the necklace and got up from the bench. "Well, um…thank you…I-I should be going now."

With that said Aiko rushed into the hospital and on her way she bumped into Tsume. He glanced at her and she looked at him then quickly apologized and walked off. Then it occurred to her that it was him that had brought Takashi to the hospital. She turned towards him but was quite intimidated when she noticed how tough he looked.

"Um…y-you're the one that h-helped T-Taka-kun right?"

"Why are you stuttering? You speak as if you're stupid."

'Geez, why so rude?'

"I just w-wanted to say thank you for helping him."

Tsume walked off but Aiko seemed to have followed him.

"It really means a lot that you helped him," she said out and he stopped then glanced back at her.

"That kid…" Tsume then took off and Aiko looked at him then she turned back and gasped as she spotted Minako.

"Mina-chan, what are you doing down here?"

"You were taking so long that I had to come down and get the drinks myself," she said out with a smile and Aiko laughed nervously. "Anyways…there's something that I have to tell you."

"Oh…um ok then, go ahead," Aiko said out and saw how Minako gave her a sympathetic look.

"The thing is…I should have told you this quite some time ago but I couldn't because…it would be awkward."

"What is it about?" Aiko asked with a small pinch of pain in her heart.

"It's about Taka-kun…and…"

"That he has a girlfriend?" Aiko asked and Minako looked at her quite surprised. "I heard his girlfriend is sure cute," she smiled and leaned in towards Minako. "I heard she's very kind hearted also. Whoever is going out with Takashi is sure a lucky girl and I would be proud for those two," Aiko said out while smiling brightly and Minako hugged her.

"Thank you," she whispered and as Aiko hugged her friend she swallowed back her tears.

"Hey I…I should get going now," Aiko said out and she pulled away from her friend then ran off with tears streaming down.

Hige was walking around in the hospital hallways, sniffing around the place. He turned around in the corners then walked past an open door room. Inside he spotted a young woman with midnight blue hair and dark eyes looking through some files. Hige found himself smiling as he looked at her and saw how pretty she looked. He took a step closer then suddenly there was a sudden noise of growling.

"Hmm? What is it?" the woman asked gently and she looked towards her desk.

Quietly Hige took a step back as he noticed a black dog with ocean blue eyes staring at him. The dog's ears were laid flat against its skull and fangs were bared. Hige kept walking and the dog started to bark.

"What is it Sapphire?" the woman asked and she petted the dog gently.

"Anything wrong, Nadeshiko-sama?" one of the assistants asked and the woman turned to them then shook her head.

"It's nothing…"

"Oh…I heard Sapphire-chan barking."

"That's how she is," Nadeshiko smiled and petted the dog gently. "You seem to be quite serious when you barked."

"Blue doesn't usually bark like that," the assistant said out and Nadeshiko looked at them.

"Blue?"

"Oh," the assistant laughed gently while rubbing the back of his head gently. "I made a nickname for her."

"Blue? Hmm, she seems to respond to it," Nadeshiko headed over towards her files and the assistant walked over toward the dog and petted her gently.

"Nadeshiko-sama, are you still in the search of the lunar flower? I mean, that's what I thought when you brought in Blue."

"I suppose I should be waiting for more information before I start this."

"The lunar flower calls out to the wolves and the wolves call out to the lunar flower…do you think Blue will do a good job?"

"She's half wolf isn't she?" Nadeshiko asked while looking through her paperwork. "Then I'm sure we'll be able to use some part of her blood."

The assistant gently petted the dog and slowly the dog wagged her tail.

"It seems wrong for an animal to become an experiment…"

"Or…we could have her track down the wolves. She's a very intelligent animal so I trust her to do her best."

"You hear that Blue? You'll get to see what this place is like," the assistant laughed and Nadeshiko rolled her eyes.

"Don't get too attached to her. She's only an animal."

Meanwhile Kiba, Hige, and Toboe all met up and the three were walking in the streets together. It was quiet and none of them spoke out, that is until Hige smelled corndogs on the side of the road.

"I'm going to go get some," he said out and Toboe looked at him then at Kiba.

"Do you think Aiko-chan is all right?"

"I wouldn't really worry about her. She's quite stubborn," Kiba said out and Hige came back while blowing on the hot corn dog.

"She pretty much is. She's just everything that you can't be attracted to."

"What do you mean?" Toboe asked Hige. "I think she's nice."

"Nice but dangerous. I've seen her hang around with some friends and she plays tough with them."

Kiba continued on walking and he kept the vision of the lunar flower within his mind. He saw how it had glimmered in the sunlight and he only wished he could have been the one to obtain it. He could have just grabbed it from her but then it would only bring trouble.

"I think Aiko-chan's friend would be nice too," Toboe said out.

"You think every human is nice," Hige said out and Toboe laughed gently.

"I guess."

"You think that then pretty soon you'll end up in the hospital by a human."

"I hope Takashi is all right," Toboe whispered and Hige looked at him oddly.

"What does it matter to you? It's not like you know him personally or anything."

"Well, that's true but I have guided him before. One night when he was drinking too much and-."

"What are you? Some guide dog?"

The two continued on talking and Kiba led the way. Suddenly the white wolf stopped when he spotted a gray wolf standing before him. The x-scar was kept on the wolf's chest and their cold eyes looked towards golden eyes. Hige and Toboe became silent and looked at the other wolf and their ears perked up.

"T-Tsume…" Toboe whispered and Kiba glanced at Toboe then at the gray wolf.

"I see you three are just walking around the city," Tsume said out, "well enjoy," he turned around to walk away.

"Tsume, wait. Do you know what happened to Takashi?" Toboe asked out and Hige was getting quite irritated.

"Why should you care?"

"Please tell me what happened to him!"

Tsume looked at the auburn colored wolf then he noticed how the white wolf kept his eyes on the gray wolf. He then walked away and Toboe ran after him. Tsume quickly turned around and opened his jaws, baring his fangs, but suddenly Kiba jumped in and snapped at the gray wolf. Toboe quickly backed away while Kiba stood between him and Tsume growling deeply.

"What's your problem?" Hige asked out to Tsume.

"Don't you dare come close towards me!" Tsume snarled and Kiba bared his teeth even more.

"Just go on your way."

"Bunch of pets," Tsume mumbled and right as he turned to go he spotted the girl.

All of the wolves settled down and they looked before them and all of them saw Aiko. She was standing beside the streetlights and was waiting for something or someone. The wind blew and her hair moved along with it then suddenly she touched her necklace. All the wolves felt something tingle inside of their chest and they felt an overcoming of warmth.

"Lunar flower," Kiba whispered.

Suddenly Aiko looked before her and she crossed the road. As Kiba watched her he saw how she was getting away farther and farther.

'The flower…I'm so close…and yet it's so far. The flower…calls me and I call towards the flower…the flower…lunar flower.'

Quickly Kiba ran off and the other wolves looked at him.

"What are you doing?" Hige shouted out but Kiba ignored him.

He continued on running…running towards the girl…running towards the flower.