A/N: my other fave! next chappie! enjoy!

Chapter 4: Toboe Reborn

"Aw, you're so adorable!" he grinned, his amber eyes shining at the little white kitten in the box.

"Are you all alone, too?" he murmured to the shivering little thing.

"Yes," the kitten replied in a small voice. He suddenly felt a shiver run up his spine and glanced behind him. He saw a boy, older than himself, down the block waiting at to cross the street. He shot to his feet when he saw his blue eyes and black hair, and noticed the girl standing with him. He almost couldn't believe he was seeing that wolf again.

"Kiba…" he murmured. He wanted to run toward him and greet him, but he wasn't sure if he would remember him. Even if he remembered who he was, he wasn't sure if Kiba, or any of the others for that matter, would remember him. Sighing, he turned back to the kitten, kneeling at the box.

"Hey, how 'bout you come home with me?" he smiled to the little kitten. "I've got a great place. It's warm and dry, and I'm sure Sister would love you!"

"Sister?" the kitten wondered.

"Well, she's not really my sister," he laughed. "She's a human, but I call her that 'cause she's not that old enough to be a mom or a granny. You wanna come with me?"

"Ok," the kitten replied and he grinned then looked around to see if anyone claimed the cute little thing in the box. When he saw no one, he reached in with one hand, as the other was holding an umbrella to keep him dry from the rain, and pulled the kitten out as it meowed. He pulled the blanket under the fur-ball with it and wrapped it around him to keep him dry. Rummaging through his pocket with the umbrella hand, he pulled out some money and threw it into the box, in case anyone was selling it.

"Now, let's get you home and warmed up, ok?" he smiled, hugging the kitten close then heading toward the end of the block. He noticed another boy, older than himself, a wolf, in a blue raincoat sitting a few feet away from the entrance to the diner he was heading toward, a bag at his feet. As he stepped in front of him, he suddenly realized who it was when he saw the boy's face and stopped, staring at him with wide eyes. He couldn't believe he was there as well!

Is it really him? he thought to himself. Is it really Hige?!

The boy looked up at him with a frown and shrugged, "What?"

Toboe shook his expression away and sputtered, "N-Nothing."

He walked away quickly, his heart heavy that after not seeing any of his friends for so long, none of them, he was sure, would remember them. Passing the huge window to the diner he gave a sideways glance, but kept walking and saw Kiba sitting with the girl he'd been walking with, and a waitress he knew as well. Once clear of the window he gave a small smile to himself.

"Blue is here, too," he murmured to himself. "And so close to Hige. That's good. Maybe they'll remember each other. Blue looked so happy, too."

He was so consumed in his thoughts that he didn't look around the corner of the building at the end of the block before rounding it, and rammed into a man in black.

"Whoa! I'm sorry, Mister!" he apologized quickly, pulling the kitten a little closer. The poor thing was asleep, now. He suddenly realized he'd bumped into another wolf and looked up at him with wide eyes to see familiar jade orbs and silver hair, cut short and some pulled back in a thin ponytail. His heart skipped a beat in joy as the older one looked back at him, and he prayed he remembered him.

Please, Tsume, he willed, silently. Please remember me.

"What's wrong with you, huh, runt?" he snapped, and Toboe's heart sank as he realized he didn't remember.

"N-Nothing, Mister," he replied, still in shock. "S-Sorry I bumped into you. I'll just get going now."

He walked around him, and the bike leaning on the building.

"Hey!" Tsume called, and Toboe turned around with wide eyes, his heart thudding in his chest with hope. "Have we met before?"

Toboe said nothing for a moment as his eyes shrunk down a bit, and his heart sank in disappointment. He finally replied, "No, Mister. I'd remember a guy with a bike. See ya."

He turned again and walked away, his head bowed. He had hoped, out of anyone, Tsume would remember, but he didn't. In reality, he couldn't understand why he could remember everything that had happened. Was it because he had been the first out of all of them to die? Maybe. He also thought Kiba would remember as well, but he didn't want to go to him and then find out he had no memory. He was afraid of getting hurt because of that.

"I'm not a brat!"

He jumped from his thoughts and looked behind him to see a girl with dark brown hair shouting at Tsume as he revved the engine on his bike, getting ready to leave. She was a wolf too, but he hadn't met her before.

"You had better apologize to me!" she yelled, and Toboe watched as Tsume only waved at her then sped off.

He watched him turn to head the direction he was going, but when Tsume had disappeared from his sight, Toboe turned back to look at the girl. She was shivering, even though she was wearing a warm, white turtle neck under a brown, Indian designed, short-sleeved sweater, sprinkled with yellow and green. Her tan boots that gathered at her ankles were soaked through, along with her top and brown pants. He felt sorry for her, and saw her jade eyes start to tear up a bit. He walked toward her and held his umbrella over her head as he stood next to her. She gasped and looked at him with wide eyes as he only smiled back warmly.

"Hi, there," he smiled and she wiped some water from her face. "My name's Toboe. What's yours?"

"Ryooshi," she replied then smiled slightly as she said, "You're a wolf, like me."

"Yup," Toboe nodded then grinned, making her giggle.

"I've met a whole bunch of wolves today," she reported, making sure she was fully under the umbrella. "I didn't think there were so many in this city! Aren't you surprised, too?!"

"A little," he shrugged, still smiling. He was happy to talk to somebody new, and she seemed so nice. He reminded her a bit of Lera, the only difference being that she was a wolf, like him.

"Thanks for sharing your umbrella with me," she smiled. "I'm absolutely soaked!"

"Sure thing!" he grinned. "Where're you headed?"

"Oh, no place in particular," Ryooshi replied. "How 'bout you?"

"I'm headed home," he said, then had an idea and looked to her with wide eyes, filled with excitement as he asked, "You wanna come home with me? You can dry off there, and have something to eat while you wait for the rain to stop."

"Oh, no!" Ryooshi breathed, shaking her head. "I wouldn't want to impose. Besides, you should get that cute little kitten home before he freezes to death!"

"It's alright," Toboe insisted. "I'd feel bad if I left you here in the rain. You'll get sick out here."

Ryooshi smiled at his kindness then shrugged as she replied, "Why not?"

Toboe grinned and gestured which way they'd be going. She stood close to him under the umbrella as they headed down the street then looked down at the kitten.

"Do you want me to hold him for you?" she wondered, referring to the fur-ball in his arms.

"Oh, you don't have to," he smiled. "Unless you want to, that is."

He didn't even have to ask that question twice. Just the way she was looking at the kitten told him the answer. Smiling he carefully handed her the kitten, making her grin as she took it, holding it close and stroking it gently as it still slept and he still held the umbrella.

"What's its name?" she wondered as they still walked.

"I haven't named him yet," Toboe replied. "I just got him a few minutes ago."

"Really?!" Ryooshi giggled. "What do you think you'll name him then?"

Toboe looked at the kitten then back at her and laughed nervously, replying, "I hadn't really thought about it. He was an impulse buy."

Ryooshi giggled again and complimented, "You're funny. You're so nice, too. Thanks for letting me stay with you a while. I owe you big. If there's anything you need, just ask."

"That's ok," he shrugged, blushing only slightly at her compliments. "You don't need to. Sister gives me everything I need."

"Oh, you have a sister?" Ryooshi smiled in sincere interest.

"Well, she's a human," he explained. "So she can't really be my sister. But she's like a sister to me."

"That's so nice!" she replied. "I don't have anybody that I live with. I'm a true stray, I guess." Toboe snickered and she giggled again before asking, "What's your 'sister's' name?"

"Liona," he replied. "She's really nice. You'll like her."

"I'm sure," Ryooshi nodded and turned back to stroking the kitten in her arms.

He suddenly remembered she had spoken to Tsume and thought of asking her if she really knew him or if they had just met, but decided not to. If she did know him, she'd probably tell him that Toboe had asked about him. And if he told her he was a friend of his, he was sure Tsume wouldn't know who she was talking about. He didn't want to feel the hurt when the one he considered to be his best friend out of the pack didn't remember him.

No, he'd just have to keep on going, and not try to get any of them to remember, no matter how much he wanted them to. He knew it would only end up in hurt, for him. Besides, now he had this nice girl to talk to, and he was sure they'd end up great friends.

A/N: wow, that was shorter than i thought it would be. and yes, i gave him somebody like Granny. i figured it wood fit. anyway, for those of you wondering; no, this is not ToboeXOC. *shakes head violently* get that outta ur head right now! it's not ToboeXTsume either. the Moe character will not be corrupted by such things, and i dont do yaoi anyway. so, how you like? reviews?