A/N: next chappie! this one's longer. prolly cuz Tsume's my favorite. and before i get reviews asking me this, yes, there will be a bit of overlapping with the first like, six chappies, just cuz everbody's meeting everybody else and i'm setting up who knows what and where everyone's comin from. enjoy!

Chapter 2: Tsume Reborn

He dismounted his motorcycle and propped it, carefully against the brick wall of his hide-out, under a raggedy but suitable awning to keep it dry. Sighing, he pulled his helmet off of his head and hooked it on the handle of his bike. He pulled the collar of his leather jacket a little tighter around his neck to keep out the cold, making it brush against his thin ponytail of silver hair. Scanning jade eyes around the area and listening intently, he slowly walked around the shack to the door. He knocked three, slow times and waited for the door to open. Once it opened a crack, then opened fully, he stepped in without saying a word to the man who let him in.

"Tsume, where the hell you been?!" one of the other men in the shack wondered, irritably. "We've been waiting here for hours!"

"Don't exaggerate," Tsume snapped, just as irritable and the man shrank back slightly.

"Whoa, Tsume," another voiced. "Weather doin' a number on your mood?"

"Shut up," he snapped again, trudging toward the fire his gang had built to warm himself up then demanded, "Is everyone here?"

"Nah, we're still waitin' on Tim," one of the men piped up.

"We don't need him here, do we?" another whined, throwing a twig onto the fire. "Not like he ever does anything to help us."

"He will this job," Tsume replied, and all eyes turned to him in surprise. "We'll wait."

Just then there came a rapid knock at the door and everyone stiffened, but the man at the door only rolled his eyes as he grumbled, "Boy hasn't figured out the knock yet."

He opened the door and a boy about seventeen years old stumbled into the shack and shook himself like a dog, sending water drops from his died turquoise hair all over the place.

"Hey! Watch it!" one of the men snarled, as the boy lifted amber eyes around the room, but Tsume said nothing as he stared at the fire.

"Sorry I'm late, Boss," the boy said quickly, walking toward the fire as well to sit across from Tsume, who he was talking to. "My aunt had to---"

"Save it," Tsume snapped and the boy shut his mouth instantly.

"Well, Timmy, looks like you've got a big part in our next heist," one of the men blurted and the boy, Timothy, turned wide eyes filled with excitement at Tsume who didn't look at him.

"Really?!" he grinned. "Wow! I thought maybe you didn't like me 'cause I never do anything."

"I don't like you," Tsume finally replied, but still didn't look away from the fire as everyone looked at him quizzically. "I don't like you, but I don't hate you, either. Any of you. It's one of those things."

"But, aren't we friends?" Timothy wondered, meekly and the gang shook their heads at the boy. He was pretty new to the gang, and didn't know how it worked. They all knew, though. They had been around Tsume long enough to know that they were disposable to him, and they didn't care. They hated his guts anyway. But, they had to admit, he was good when it came to stealing valuable things and selling them for more than they were worth.

"I don't have friends," Tsume replied and Timothy pouted, but said nothing more.

At least, not anymore, Tsume thought to himself, but dismissed the thoughts.

"Let's plan it out," he ordered, standing and heading to a dingy map of the city they lived in that was pinned to the far wall. He pointed to a spot and said, "This is our target. Kid, you'll go around the back way and pick the lock, get in and let us in the front."

"Are you outta your mind?!" one of the men snapped, staring wide-eyed in disbelief at the spot Tsume was pointing to. "That's a laboratory! Do you know how much security is gonna be swarming through that place?!"

"That's why the kid is goin' in!" Tsume snarled back, making the man shrink back. "He's new. He doesn't have, 'I'm a thief' written all over him. He can get in and get us in without any problem." He looked to Timothy who was wide-eyed in awe and said, "If anybody stops you, you just say you're the mail boy. They won't question that."

"How do you know?" one of the other men piped up sarcastically, and Tsume shot a glare at him but didn't answer his question. He only started walking toward the table on the opposite end of the room, digging into his jacket. He pulled out a roll of paper that was slightly crumpled from being in his jacket and spread it out over the table as the men crowded around him and he continued.

"Once we're inside, we'll take out the guards at the entrance then head here," he explained, pointing to a spot on the blueprints of the laboratory he was planning to raid. "There should be plenty of stuff there that'll sell for big bucks."

"The supply room?" Timothy breathed, but no one answered him.

"And how do you suppose we get out, oh great genius of heist?" one of the men wondered, sarcastically.

Tsume had had enough. He turned and socked the guy in the face, sending him to the floor as the men howled in amusement to hide their fear of getting pummeled themselves. Tsume turned back to the blueprints, ignoring the man he'd just punched as he got up and examined the prints.

"The supply room is on the fifth floor," Tsume thought aloud. "If one of us cuts the power and we get to the elevator, we can climb down the shaft and that'll get us right to the entrance."

"Should we draw straws to see who takes out the power?" one of the men wondered, seriously.

"I'll do it."

All eyes shot to Timothy as he looked up at Tsume.

"Kid, this ain't play time," another man said. "This is serious."

"I'll do it," Timothy insisted. "I'm the only one who can." He looked to the blue prints and explained, "Look. The circuits for the power grid are all the way at the back entrance. If you all head to the elevator, I'll head to the back, and go out the way I went in once I flip the switch. The doors don't lock down when the power goes out."

"Alright," Tsume nodded, without a second's hesitation and his gang stared at him in wide-eyed disbelief.

"You're gonna let him do it?!" one of the men finally shouted. "What makes you think he can pull it off?!"

"I'll start heading back after I let you guys in," Timothy continued, trying to convince everyone that he could do his part. "I'll cut the power and head toward the front entrance to wait for you guys."

"Don't make me laugh, kid," one of them chuckled. "With those short legs, you'll be lucky if you get half way to the back after lettin' us in!"

"Shut up," Tsume snapped, causing everyone to stare wide eyes at him again. "The kid says he can do it, he can do it. I've already said it's fine."

"But, Tsume---!"

"I said be quiet!" Tsume growled in the man's face, making him shrink back and Tsume turned to walk toward the door. "We're hitting the lab tonight. Get everything ready."

He didn't wait for a response before he was out the door and walking toward his bike. He pulled his helmet from the handle of his bike and pulled it onto his head, then walked his bike toward the street.

"Stupid humans," he grumbled. "Can't just do what they're told. Have to make everything difficult."

Once at the edge of the street he mounted his bike and started it, the rain making soft, puttering noises on his helmet. It was all that filled his ears. That and his breathing, then the roar of his motorcycle engine. He popped a wheelie then sped down the street at top speed, the rush being too great to resist. He weaved in and out of cars, not even afraid of being hit by one and smirked to himself. Even if it was raining, it was a nice day for a ride.

He came to a stop at a light and revved his engine a bit. He loved the sound of that engine. As he sat at the light, he suddenly felt himself being watched. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and he glanced around through the windshield of his helmet, trying to find the source. He looked across the intersection and saw a kid, a little younger then himself staring at him with intense blue eyes through black strands of hair in his face. He was waiting to cross the street with a girl under his arm.

What the hell are you looking at, twerp? he wondered, silently. Suddenly, as he looked into the kid's eyes again, he felt something. He felt he should've known who he was, but he was sure he'd never met the kid. He probably shoved by him trying during one of his getaways. Then again, he'd remember seeing eyes as intense as his, and he'd remember seeing another wolf in the city.

The light turned green for him and he revved his engine once more to speed down the street. He didn't look at the boy with intense eyes as he passed him, but when he passed, he felt a sharp pain of guilt that he hadn't stopped for him. Guilt? Why the hell would he feel guilty about not stopping to talk to a kid he didn't even know?! He wouldn't, unless he'd met him before.

If I did meet him, I don't remember, he thought, stating the obvious. He didn't want to give himself a headache but it wasn't leaving him alone. He found a corner and turned to head around the block again to see if the kid was still there. He headed down the opposite direction the kid had seemed to be heading and searched for him on his side of the street.

He couldn't see him, and as he was distracted looking the other way he nearly ran into a kid who was stepping off the curb just as he was passing. He swerved and barely missed him as the kid stepped back onto the curb. Tsume made a U-turn but only sat on his bike and faced the kid with an angry gaze as the boy in the blue rain coat with his arms full of bags glared back at him.

"Watch where you're goin' will ya?!" he shouted and looked both ways before heading across the street. Tsume's anger suddenly melted away when that same nagging feeling came back at seeing him, another wolf. What the hell was going on?! That was twice he'd met somebody that he felt he should've known, but couldn't come up with name's to go with the faces.

He growled at himself and turned his bike to head across the street himself. He rested the bike against the last building on the street and leaned back, not taking off his helmet. He tried not to think about the two he'd just seen, but it only seemed to make it worse. He growled at himself again and yanked his helmet off his head to place it on the handle of his bike. He turned to walk around the building but ended up bumping into a young boy coming around in the opposite direction.

"Whoa! I'm sorry, Mister!" the boy replied immediately, hugging the kitten in his arm closer to him. The boy with amber eyes and reddish hair peeking out from under his hood looked up at Tsume with wide eyes.

"What's wrong with you, huh, runt?" Tsume snapped, seeing the kid was yet another wolf and getting a little irritated that he was meeting so many all of a sudden.

"N-Nothing, Mister," the boy sputtered. "S-Sorry I bumped into you. I'll just get going now."

He walked around Tsume and his bike, but the same nagging feeling revealed itself in Tsume and he spun around to catch the kid before he left.

"Hey!" he called, and the boy turned around with wide eyes. "Have we met before?"

The boy said nothing for a moment as his eyes shrunk down a bit, glowing with only slight disappointment. He finally replied, "No, Mister. I'd remember a guy with a bike. See ya."

He turned and walked away, his head bowed and Tsume frowned in utter confusion. He was really annoyed with this feeling. It was on the tip of his tongue, that kid's name. How could he know the kid's name without knowing him?!

"Toboe," he murmured, still watching the boy walk away. "His name is…Toboe."

He was sure that was his name, but how did he know that? He shook his head and headed around the back end of the building toward the alley. He needed a walk. He needed to concentrate on the job tonight if he was going to pull it off without a hitch. But no matter what he did, his mind always led him back to those familiar faces and that one name that he was sure he knew before, but they weren't coming to him now. He stopped next to a dumpster and leaned back against the wall with a sigh of exhaustion.

The door on the other side of the dumpster opening made him jump with a start and turn to see a girl with huge trash bags in her hands emerging from it. She blew a strand of Black hair from her blue eyes as she threw the bags into the dumpster, and Tsume only stared with wide eyes filled with disbelief. He couldn't believe it. Another wolf, and another nagging feeling.

The girl looked to him in a curious gaze as he only continued to stare at her, mouth slightly agape. She smirked and placed her hands on her hips as she said, "Don't stare too long. Your eyes'll fall out of your head."

"We've met," he blurted this time and she frowned at him in confusion.

"We have?" she wondered. "I don't remember. I think I'd remember seeing another wolf around like you."

"We've met, I know it," he insisted, fed up with keeping his mouth shut about it.

"What, like in a past life or something?" the girl smirked. "'Cause I've never met you."

Tsume suddenly pushed off the wall, still staring at her, but his mind was reeling as she frowned at him and he ignored it. A past life! That had to be why he was feeling all this nostalgia or whatever just by seeing these four! Not that he believed in that sort of thing, but he had to admit, it made sense.

They jumped with a start when they heard a crash and the girl spun around in shock as Tsume looked around her to see a pile of trash cans had fell into a pile, and something was moving in the pile of tin as well.

"Dangit!" a girl's voice snarled then complained, "This is turning out to be a fun day."

The pile moved again and Tsume and the woman with him saw a young girl shove herself out of the trash in the alleyway and dust herself off. Tsume couldn't believe it. Another wolf! Though, he was relieved when he saw her face that he didn't have that feeling of familiarity. That would have driven him over the edge. The girl looked up with wide jade eyes through a few strands of dark brown hair and grinned at them.

"Wow! More wolves!" she cheered and ran toward the two as they only stood there, confused. "I'm Ryooshi! Nice to meet you!" She gripped the woman's hand and shook it fiercely. "I know your name. You're the nice waitress in that place I was just thrown out of. Blue, right?"

"Y-Yeah," the woman replied and Ryooshi nodded then looked to Tsume who cocked an eyebrow at her in wonder. She stared at him with wide eyes, loosening the grip on Blue's hand to walk toward him. He stayed where he was but watched her carefully as she slowly walked toward him.

"You're Tsume, right?" she guessed and he looked at her in mild surprise.

"How'd ya know that?" he humored, not really interested in the answer.

"I've heard about you from the animals and humans around here," she explained, stopping right in front of him. "You're pretty famous."

"That so?" he muttered, staring at her but noticing Blue sneak away through the door she'd just come out of.

"Oh, yeah," Ryooshi nodded. "You run with a pack of humans, I heard. Don't you get lonely being with them all the time and not with your own kind?"

"I don't get lonely," he replied and with that he turned and tried to head toward his bike. He'd had enough of this. All he wanted to do now was get home and sleep till sundown.

"How do you keep from getting lonely?" Ryooshi wondered, hurrying after him and coming up next to him, but he only stared ahead. "I'd really like to know your secret. I'm lonely all the time."

"Don't make friends then," Tsume advised, not looking at her. "And don't become any human's pet."

"I'm not doing either of those," Ryooshi replied, in a slightly sorrowful tone, and I'm still lonely."

"Well, then I don't know what to tell ya, kid," Tsume replied, finally coming to his bike and pulling the helmet off the handle to put it on.

"Wow! Cool bike!" she grinned, moving to sit on it. Tsume gripped her arm and shoved her away, making her stumble and almost slip on the puddles on the sidewalk. She whirled around and scowled at him.

"I didn't say you could get on it," he said, mounting the bike. "Get lost, brat."

"I'm not a brat!" she yelled over the rev of his engine as he started the bike. "You had better apologize to me!"

Tsume looked at her through the windshield of his helmet and lifted a hand to wave at her before he sped off into the street and made a U-turn to head home. He saw her stomping and shouting at him as he left her in the rain. He suddenly felt guilty as he sped down the street, but it wasn't the same type of guilt he'd felt when he saw the boy with blue eyes. This guilt was because he was leaving her in the rain, and he noticed her in his rearview mirror starting to shiver in the cold.

He didn't stop. He didn't go back. Even if he did feel bad, what could he do for her? Nothing. He was a thief. No. A wolf pretending to be a human thief. That thought made him grip the handles of his bike a little tighter. What was he turning into? One of those humans he hated so much. He shook the thoughts away. No. He was different than them. He was even different than that she-wolf back there, and it wasn't in a good way. There was a reason he had a scar on his chest, and every time he looked in a mirror, he was never allowed to forget what had put it there.

Turning down another corner he stopped at a light and sighed in exhaustion. He didn't think of anything. He just listened to the rain falling on his helmet as he stared at the light, willing it to change. Once it did he sped down the street at top speed, wanting to get home as fast as possible. Wanting to get away from that intense stare of the blue-eyed boy.

A/N: yes, Tsume has a back story to his scar, but it's different than it what happened in the anime, that's all i'll say, cause i know i'll be asked. well? is Ryooshi ok? i know some people have problems with OCs, so i try to keep mine from turning into Mary-Sues. reviews?