Disclaimer: I don't own Kannazuki no Miko; I just own Jin and Rakuen.

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Chapter 6

Hey, Chikane-chan.

Do you remember that day? The day you asked me to go into town with you?

I do.

It was my first time going into town during the day; as we walked from your mansion, following the path, you told me it was called Mahoroba, and you said that time passed slowly there. I was such a pup back then; I thought what you said was beautiful and never stopped to think about what it meant.

Back then, for me, time did pass slowly. I was young, I had nothing to really worry about. I was only two by wolf standards, sixteen by human standards. The only life I had ever known was a life of sunlight and happiness, waiting for the moment when I fell in love like Mako did with Souma.

So far, the only love I'd known in my short life was sweet and warm, like basking in the sunlight and dozing as it warms your fur, calm and peaceful. I didn't know yet that love could be painful and sharp, could take your breath away and leave you gasping.

I was about to find that out.

Hey, Chikane-chan.

Do you remember the night when time sped up?

I do.

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The only time Himeko had ever gone into town had been at night, usually after her pack mates were asleep (Makoto was a light sleeper, and usually stirred after she left; she habitually trailed Himeko from a safe distance to make sure she didn't get in trouble.) and under the ticking clock of her transformation.

(Of course, once she reached that limit, it was usually up to Makoto to give her a piggy-back ride into the trees, and thankfully Makoto was strong as both a wolf and a human.)

As a result, her idea of what Mahoroba looked like was slightly different from normal, and while she'd certainly wandered through it under the darkness of night she'd never strayed far before her body started to remind her that it was reaching its limit. But today was a new day, and she'd successfully held her human form overnight, lengthening her grace period before she had to drop her human skin and once more assume the fur and muscle of a wolf.

Mahoroba was a small place, but the street was full of life and it wasn't unusual to be bustled and jostled from side to side as one walked. Needless to say it was a wholly new experience to Himeko, who had only visited at night when not many people were out, and instinct had her latching on to the nearest person she knew when her eyes failed to spot the auburn hair of Makoto.

Chikane didn't seem to mind, only jolting slightly in surprise when Himeko timidly slipped her hand into the dark-haired girl's, but as though she sensed the other's nervousness she just tilted her head to look down at her and smiled quietly, giving her hand a gentle squeeze before continuing. From the safety of her side, Himeko observed.

Very rarely did wolves ever leave the trees to walk among humans, and the ones who did usually were extremely confident in their ability to maintain their human form and act normal. Acting the part of a human was essential to a wolf's survival. While sneaking away from the pack at night was probably not the best way to learn how to interact with humans, it was better than no experience at all.

And if it counted for anything, Chikane's hand was warm and her grip was firm but gentle.

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It was strange, holding Chikane-chan's hand like that. I did it without thinking, really, but she didn't seem to mind.

Wolves are by nature very touchy-feely. When we're among our pack mates, we're constantly nuzzling and licking each other. From birth we nip and nuzzle with our siblings until it becomes instinct, and this often carries over to our human form. It's not like we mean to do it; it's just the way we are.

Unfortunately, when you're used to being intimate with your pack mates as a wolf, it carries over as a human; and human shows of affection are very different from wolves. In a pack, every wolf knows each other; it's impossible not to, since as soon as a pup leaves the den each wolf becomes a part of their life. But humans don't know each other as well.

I'd only known Chikane-chan for, at most, perhaps a day or so; but wolf instinct had me reaching for her, reaching for her hand, some sign of physical contact, and I didn't stop to think about what she'd say to it. To me, touching was as natural as breathing, and I'd never stopped to consider that she didn't think the same way.

After all, she was human.

But to my shock, she didn't seem to mind at all. Oh, sure, she was startled, but she didn't push my hand away or ask me to let go. Back then she didn't know what I was or what it meant when I reached for her, but she did seem to understand that I needed comfort.

I suppose she assumed it was just the way I was raised.

Sometimes I wonder… would that night…

Would it all have hurt less if she'd pushed me away when I first reached for her?

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Himeko was content to be led—it worked well with her guise as a newcomer to town, and it made it easier for her to hang back and take everything in. Chikane didn't talk much unless Himeko started the conversation, but her presence was calm and soothing. The golden-haired girl looked around, charmed. "A lot of people live here, don't they?"

Chikane laughed. "I wouldn't say that. It's just crowded."

"So… it's a small town?"

"Incredibly small." She grinned. "But unarguably lively. I don't think I've ever had a dull moment here."

The affection in her tone as she spoke of the place she'd grown up sounded similar to whenever Himeko had spoken to wolves from other packs, telling them about the forest she'd grown up in, the times she spent wrestling in the grass and racing among the trees with Makoto and Souma. "You love it here," she murmured, glancing at the taller girl.

Her blue eyes gleamed with amusement. "Don't you love the place where you grew up?"

It was a simple question, not one that required any extra thought or pause; but as she opened her mouth, Himeko still couldn't help but think of the trees and grass, of the streams, of playing and sleeping with Souma and Makoto, watching over Jin, laughing softly as Corona or Miyako gently coaxed their mates into playing, no matter how nonchalant Reiko acted or how much Tsubasa grumbled.

As she gazed into Chikane's eyes, sparkling with laughter, she couldn't help but wonder why she was the one who held all the power to rip her pack and everything she'd ever known apart.

"Yes." She smiled. "I love the place where I grew up very much."

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"I need to go in here alone." Chikane studied the short, squat brown building with suddenly narrow eyes. Tension had seeped into her body in such a way that Himeko couldn't miss it even if she tried. "Chikane-chan?" she asked uncertainly.

"Just… wait here, okay?" She gave Himeko's hand another squeeze before quietly letting go. "I don't think this is the kind of place you'd like to go in… but my father asked me to stop by."

Her father was a wolf hunter; the head of the Himemiya family, Himeko recalled, and felt a chill sweep through her blood. "Oh. Okay." She forced the smile anyway, praying it didn't appear shaky. "Take your time."

Chikane seemed assured by the quiet words, and with a quick dip of her head left Himeko's side to enter the building; as the door opened Himeko caught a brief whiff of what she suspected to be coffee and the faded scent of wolf's blood. She wrinkled her nose and looked away as the door swung shut. Her control wavered dangerously and she gritted her teeth, forcing her rebellious body back in check.

Her wolf instinct screamed at her to attack or retreat, but she beat it back fiercely and focused on her breathing. Eventually her heartbeat slowed, the heat drained from her face, and her human conscious established itself over the wolf within.

She always was and always would be, first and foremost, a wolf. But right now, she had to think like a human.

With a sigh, Himeko rocked back on her heels. Maybe she should wander around a bit more; Chikane hadn't told her to stay in one place, after all.

As she turned away, she could have sworn she caught a whiff of a familiar scent and frowned, turning, inhaling deeply. The scent came to her again, slightly stronger than before, but recognizable all the same. Her eyes widened.

What's he doing here?!

"Himeko!"

Shock and terror fighting for equal footing in her belly, Himeko knelt down as the small boy flew into her arms, lifting him up and hugging him tightly. "Jin," she whispered raggedly as she felt him tremble in her arms. "For the love of Tsuki, what are you doing here? Why are you in your human form? You know pups can only hold it for a few hours!"

She could already feel the telltale tremors coursing through his small body, and gently Himeko set Jin back down, running her hand through his hair. Despite the seriousness of the situation she couldn't help but admire the pup's iron will for assuming his human form.

It was a form to be proud of, in any case. Like his mother he possessed dark, rich brown skin. The light green markings around his eyes as a pup served as wildly messy short light green hair on his head, glasses perched on his nose and curious red eyes gazing at the world. Himeko wondered just how many features were Miyako's and just how many were Tsubasa's—she had yet to see the First Head's human form.

"This is bad." Closing her eyes, torn between anger and pride, Himeko rested her forehead against Jin's. "This is really, really bad," she whispered. She had to figure out a way to get the pup safely back into the trees and back to his parents. Deciding it was best to move and think, Himeko swept the boy up into her arms and began to walk, following an old path in her mind. Having developed the skill of slipping quietly away from human eyes, she gently tucked Jin's head beneath her chin and kept walking as he trembled in her arms.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm really sorry, Himeko. I just smelled you nearby, and I missed you a lot, so I thought I could do it… for awhile… but I don't feel that good…"

Pups could, in fact, assume human form; but being that they were still young and not even as mature as yearlings, they could only hold it for a few hours before the effects started to kick in. Keeping in mind the ticking time bomb, Himeko skirted a young couple who were immersed in each other and cut between a pair of stores, noticing the streak of trees. Soothingly rubbing Jin's back, Himeko looked briefly over her shoulder to make sure no one saw her before stepping into the trees.

As the familiar shadows fell over her back and hair Himeko felt a sense of peace and belonging creep into her core, and she closed her eyes for a moment, letting scent and sound alone guide her. She wanted to be deeper into the heart of the forest before she let Jin down, just to be safe.

"Okay, this is good." She gently set him down, kneeling to brush loose strands of hair out of his eyes. "Change back now, Jin, no one can see you but me."

"Okay."

The change was startlingly quick; all Himeko had to do was blink and Jin the boy was gone, replaced by the Jin the wolf pup she knew so well. As she held out her hand he sniffed her fingertips, resting his head trustingly in the palm of her hand as she scratched him behind the ears with her other one.

"I'm really, really sorry," he murmured, gazing at her with huge, sad golden eyes. "Are you still mad?"

She smiled tiredly. "I was never mad at you, Jin. You meant well."

"I just missed you a lot."

"Yeah, I missed you too. When I finish this up and come home, I'll play with you all day to make up for it. That sound good?"

His eyes lit up. "Yeah!"

A soft cough made them both look up.

Tsubasa sat nearby, at the base of a large tree. To Himeko's shock the white wolf looked less intimidating than the first time she'd glimpsed him as he sat there, his tail wrapped around his paws and his good eye watching them with quiet humor and understanding. He obviously must have known what his son had done, but she smelled no anger coming from him.

Himeko gently ruffled Jin's fur before the pup trotted to his father; Tsubasa lowered his head to gently bump noses with the pup before he stood, buried his massive jaws into Jin's scruff, and lifted the pup off his paws. He nodded briefly to Himeko before turning away, and in a flash of white he sped away to the pack home.

For a moment, Himeko longed to run after him.

She settled instead for sitting against the tree Tsubasa had sat before, leaning into it and closing her eyes, deeply inhaling the familiar wolf smells like water.

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It's easy for a disguised wolf to forget themselves.

You get so used to acting human, to saying things people expect to hear and doing things expect to see, that you forget you're not human at all but something entirely different.

Humans have always hated one thing, and one thing in particular, about wolves: the fact that we carry our pride and dignity in our eyes. It's always there, that small, quiet gleam that challenges everything about them, and they absolutely loathe it. We wolves have never been ashamed of our pride, have never tried to hide our dignity. A common saying is that a way to tell a disguised wolf from a human is to look for that gleam in their eyes.

I suspect even I had that telltale gleam in my eyes, though Chikane-chan never seemed to see it herself. Our freedom, our pride, is the one thing we wolves have never really figured out how to hide or mask.

I don't think I'd ever want to hide it, anyway. Why should we be ashamed of the fact that we're wild? Why should we be ashamed of our freedom?

Sometimes I thought Chikane-chan could have been a wolf. She had that gleam in her eyes—that wildness, that freedom, that pride and dignity. It was almost like she was a wolf trapped in a human's body.

Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if Chikane-chan had been a wolf born into my pack instead of a wolf hunter.

Certainly not this…

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"You just don't learn, do you?"

Himeko heard the voice distantly, but sleep still clouded her mind and she couldn't move much even if she wanted to. It took her only a moment to realize she was moving, though she had no memory of waking and getting to her feet. She frowned a little, trying to figure out what was going on. She was warm, definitely very warm…

"Hello, are you awake back there? I felt you stir, Himeko."

Her eyes widened and she sat up. "Chikane-chan?!"

The dark-haired girl in question staggered at Himeko's sudden jolt of movement, hissing and narrowing her eyes. "Watch it," she warned. "Move like that again and I might just drop you."

In a heartbeat Himeko was awake and she realized what was going on—much like Makoto had in the past Chikane carried her piggy-back, seeming completely at ease with the other girl's weight until she'd started to wake. "Sorry," she whispered, cautiously leaning forward again and resting her hands back on Chikane's shoulders. After a moment, timidly, she asked, "Why are you carrying me, Chikane-chan?"

"After I came out, you were gone. I found you in the forest by a tree." Chikane shook her head and sighed. "Don't you know to stay away from there? Or are you tempting Fate with those wolves again?"

Himeko said nothing, feeling heat rush into her face; Chikane sighed again and continued.

"Anyway, you were asleep and I didn't feel like waking you up. You looked so peaceful. So I figured I'd just carry you. You're actually very light, so it wasn't that hard."

Himeko didn't know what to say as Chikane's words faded and she continued to walk. She was a complete stranger to this girl—why was she always so nice to her? Giving piggy-back rides when one felt it was needed was something that occurred between close friends or siblings, not two girls who barely knew each other.

Especially when one of them is lying…

After a moment, Himeko slowly lifted her arms so that they were around Chikane's neck instead of resting on her shoulders; she paused, waiting, but the other girl said nothing in protest. Feeling the heat in her face increase but encouraged by Chikane's lack of protest, Himeko gently lowered her head so her cheek rested against Chikane's back. "Thank you, Chikane-chan," she murmured.

Chikane paused mid-step, trying to gauge and measure the warmth in her chest at Himeko's words; she settled for closing her eyes and continuing to walk, even though she could feel a blush heat her cheeks and a small tingle of pleasure race down her spine.

And she knew she was in serious trouble.

"Anytime, Himeko."

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Did you know what I was back then, Chikane-chan?

I doubt it. You probably thought I was one of those nature loving people who had sympathy for the wolves, but I don't think you ever suspected back then that I was a wolf. I knew something about me threw you off.

We were even. Something about you threw me off, too.

You were an odd one. Most humans I'd met were cool to strangers, but you treated me kindly. You carried me when you could have just shaken me awake, and you didn't complain when I woke up.

You were wary of me, but you didn't seem to mind letting me come closer to you. I guess you thought if you got to know me better, you'd stop feeling so curious about me. Sometimes I wonder if you subconsciously knew what I was, and sought to reveal me.

Maybe if I'd pushed you away, maybe if I hadn't leaned on you when you carried me…

Did you know what I was back then, Chikane-chan? I doubt it.

Sometimes I wonder…

Did you know what I was that night, Chikane-chan? Or did you just know I was going away?

I've never known.

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No flashbacks this time around, but mainly because I wanted to throw in some foreshadowing of what's going to eventually happen... though you only get a hint, sorry. (sweatdrops)

Read and review, please!