Hiten knelt before his father, his eyes not wanting to meet his angry ones. His mother stood outside, making sure that no one would come in and overhear their private conversations.

How long was forever? He wasn't sure. He looked up slightly to see his father's brows furrowed, the corner of his mouth twitching in absolute rage. His hands wrapped themselves around his knees, the knuckles on his fingers turning white. If it were not for his father's piercing eagle eyed glare, he surely felt that he would have been shaking like a mouse before a hound. He sat, waiting, trying to be calm.

And then the blow came.

Without warning, the chief took his hand, raised it beyond his head, and backhanded him across the face. His father's plated gloves gouged a long, deep scratch into his skin, starting at his cheekbones and streaking up to his forehead. At an impossible speed, his father's hand was raised once again, and this time the palm met cheek. Hiten could feel blood slowly trickling from his face, but that was no matter; he would heal in two days or less. He did not budge from his frozen state.

"How dare you." The strain in his voice contained a powerful anger. "HOW DARE YOU!! Do you realize what you have DONE?"

Hiten sunk his head in comprehension.

"She-is-an-orphan!" he growled. "She is a nobody, probably the last existing ones of her species!"

"Father, I love her." he said weakly.

"Not love, son. You lust. You lust after her. Love is completely different from lust!!"

"You do not understand, I have been with her for so many years, and-"

The chief banged his fist hard on the side table, hitting it so hard that it splintered at the center. "You are the son of the chief! You are MY son! When I die YOU will carry on our tribe, and when YOU die, YOUR child will carry on. I do not want even the slightest chance that my grandson will be a half-bred bastard child grown inside an almost-extinct stray mongrel breed!!"

Hiten growled by instinct. "Father, you take this too far."

"Do you think I was happy to keep her, son?" he whispered. "I only kept her around because your mother felt sorry for her. If not for your mother, I would have put her out of her misery already. I knew it!" he yelled so that his mother could hear. "I told you she would bring a negative channel to this family!"

"It takes two, darling." His mother was always the sensible one; he loved her for it. "She did not attack him, that's for sure." There was disappointment mixed in her voice, and Hiten did not blame her.

"It does not matter whether you started it or she started it. She leaves in the morning." The chief said. "I have decided."

Hiten looked up in disbelief. "Father, no…I...please reconsider, I…" his eyes then gave off the slightest tinge of crimson. "I won't let you."

"I dare you to repeat that."

"You…can't let her go." Hiten said, this time with a bit less confidence. "I love her, father!"

The chief let out a hearty laughter, his head thrown back, his hair curling at the tips as he continued to laugh. The laughter wasn't an amusing one, but that of utter disbelief and disappointment. As the chief caught his breath, he let out a growl.

"Then leave." He said. "If you love her so much, LEAVE! I won't have a blue-blooded demon son of mine even having any premarital relations; no, any relation to a girl like that; at all!"

It was Hiten's turn to be thrown off guard.

"Son, my dear, dear son…" the chief stood up and walked around the hut. "Do you think you are the only son of mine? If you fail to lead this tribe, your younger brother Manten will be more than happy to step into your shoes to fulfill the duties that you so carelessly threw away. If you so wish, you are free to leave with her. Go, start your own family out there in the world of humans or demons. Become shackled to work and money and forced to make a living on your own.

"Or you could stay in your rightful place as my son, your mother's son, your brother's sibling, and this tribe's future pride and FULFILL YOUR DUTIES!

"Son, there are many women within this tribe that I would be more than happy to marry you off to. There are so many good girls that will make excellent homemakers and bear you plentiful sons. Remember who you are. Either give her up, or give up your entire life as you knew it."

The chief walked out the door where he met up with his mother. As a last thought, he turned around to him.

"Remember who you are, son." He said. "And remember what you would be giving up."

--

"Oh god, you're bleeding again!" Ayame dug through her sleeve for a kerchief, but when all else failed she took her own sleeve and started dabbing at the scar. Hiten pushed her hand away, refusing treatment. Treatment from her was the last thing he wanted, given the information that he was about to tell her.

Hiten paced round and round, biting the skin off his knuckles; something he would do when extremely nervous. He kept thinking back to his father's lecture to him, his words replaying and playing and playing…

"So what's this you need to tell me?" Ayame said, her face falling glum. "Is your father cross with me? Look, if I need to take the blame, I'll…I'll gladly take it."

"Ayame…"

"Oh, what did your father say to you? Please tell me, I know he said something that's important. Is he going to get Manten to succeed him? What is he going to do to you?"

"It's not about what he's going to do to you." Hiten said.

(am I really in love with her maybe my father was right after all she's only a girl and who's to say she's pregnant)

Ayame's eyes widened. "What do you mean…?"

(and even if she is she should be able to find other wolf demons out there for support who's to say they're not completely extinct yes there will be plenty of them to take care of her)

"I mean…look, I love you." Hiten choked out, cupping her face in both his hands.

(?do you really?)

"I mean, I don't love… I mean," he stammered as he saw that her eyes were welling up with tears that threatened to fall, "I mean…I don't know if I love you."

(damn straight now kick her out kick her good in the ass and go on with your life there are plenty more girls out there to properly mate with not in some scummy cave with oil-caked water you can be glorious leader leader of your people of your tribe yo ho ho ho )

(shut up shut up shut up just shut up you know you love her you coward you fucking cow just admit it to her go far away with her who needs leader when you have your soulmate your best friend what's better than to spend life with your best friend your lover )

"I love you."

"Don't say that. It's not true."

"Oh what?" Ayame's voice began to rise in anger and bitterness. "What, you can only spend so much time with someone before you start to see something in them, something attractive and…lovable and this…this longing, you're there everyday but to me you seem so far away and I can't take it! Hiten, we've only spent, I don't know, about a hundred years together!"

"It's not about time, Ayame. It's…"

"It's what? You don't want to lose your position on your high horse? You don't want the tribe whispering, 'oh, there goes the chief's son, did you hear he fucked the shit out of the vagabond whore?'"

(oh god no keep it to yourself don't get angry at her shut up shut up lock your demon inside you don't)

"YES!" he yelled. His voice bounced off the trees and bushes, followed by a huge rustling of little disturbed critters running from the booming threat that was Hiten's frustration. "There's no way that this can work, ever! If I choose to stay with you, and god forbid you're pregnant with my child, my father demands that I move out with you so that Manten can take my place! But if I don't, then only you leave and I stay here, and eventually I'm going to become the leader of my tribe! I don't know if you noticed, but I'm blue-blooded, Ayame! You're not! You probably were back in your tribe, but that was before you guys got wiped off the face of the earth!"

"I know I was taken in, Hiten. You don't have to remind me again."

Her calm response kicked his frustration down a notch. He felt the steam rising from his body, slowly cooling down in the midnight air.

"Either way you'll have to leave, Ayame." Hiten said. "Look, you know how much I've trained to become leader. I can't just give it up now. I can't quit. I can't let Manten take over for me because you and I know better than anyone else that he can't handle a real battle."

"So you'd rather let me go and toss me out into god knows where so you can fulfill your goal."

"Look, when I become leader, I'll look for you. I promise. Then you can live in the tribe again, and we can still technically be together, and I…" it didn't take him a while to realize that out of shame, he was rambling on about some nonsensical gibberish that was also quite ridiculous to hear, so he cut to the chase and started his apology. "I am really sorry that this had to happen-"

Ayame's slap came with notice. Hiten fully saw it coming and he took it. It hurt less than his father's backhand, but it came with more of a sting to the heart.

"Don't apologize." She hissed between her grinding fangs, which were now bared to the full. "Don't talk to me. Don't try to look for me, and do NOT expect to see me ever again."

Hiten stood with shame for the second time that night. All he could do was watch Ayame walking away, sweet little Ayame, his best friend, his only girl friend, driven away by his selfishness. But what was he to do?

"Oh, and by the way…" she said without turning back to face him; and her words chilled him to the bone with how much hatred that was laced in her voice; "…if god truly does hate me and I do become pregnant with your child, I'm going to do everything possible to rip your filthy seed out of me."

With that, Ayame jumped away into the shadows towards somewhere,

Nowhere.