A/N: Wow, this took forever didn't it? well, here it is! enjoy!

Chapter 5: Blue Reborn

Blue sighed as she leaned on the counter in the busy restaurant, tapping her pencil on her notepad that sat on the counter's surface in boredom. Though the restaurant was busy, there were hardly any people that were being served because they mostly wanted to get out of the rain. She couldn't help but glance over at a young girl sitting by herself at a table. She couldn't help glancing at her because she was a wolf, like herself, and she thought it was strange. She didn't think there would be many wolves in this city.

The girl had ordered a while ago, and Blue was worried she'd be thrown out because the waitress that had taken her order was taking so long. Her boss would probably think she was a loiterer, and he hated loiterers. He said they were the worst kind of time-wasters. She thought of going up to the girl and taking her order, even though it wasn't her table, but at that moment, a boy with black hair and intense blue eyes walked in with a girl in a pink raincoat under his arm. They both looked soaked through and she stood tall when she realized that the boy was actually a wolf. Another wolf.

She watched the couple walk toward an empty table that was in her station and made her way around the table, chancing a glance out the window at the front of the diner and stopping dead to make a double-take when she saw a young boy walk down the sidewalk, an umbrella in one hand, a bundle of something in the other. She saw immediately that the boy was another wolf, and watched him walk all the way across the glass with wide eyes filled with astonishment.

Once he was out of sight she frowned and shook the thought from her head and remembered the couple that had were sitting at the table. She headed toward them, notepad and pencil in hand, a smile on her lips as she approached.

"What can I get you folks?" she smiled brilliantly, making the boy jump with a start as he looked up at her, but she only glanced between them, still smiling and not failing to notice that the girl with him smelled really nice. She must have been wearing some special perfume or something.

"Nothing," he replied, gently and Blue tapped her notepad a bit, worriedly. "We're just here to get out of the rain."

"Maybe some hot chocolate or coffee?" she urged then leaned close enough to whisper, "If you don't order anything my manager'll make me kick you out. I'd rather not do that to poor folks trying to keep dry."

The boy smiled, warmly and nodded, saying, "Alright then. Two hot chocolates."

Blue nodded in relief and wrote the order down on her tablet with a smile and said, "I'll be your waitress for today. The name's Blue."

"Thank you, Blue," Kiba nodded and she walked away with a smile. She was headed toward the counter to get the order when she ran into a big man with a grunt.

"Blue, after you get those two their order, I need you to take out the garbage," the man ordered. "It stinks to high heaven and I don't need the smell driving away my customers.

"Yes, boss," Blue nodded, holding back a sigh as she tried to continue on her way, but a hand on her arm stopped her.

"How long has that girl been there?" her boss asked, gesturing to the young girl sitting by herself that Blue had been observing earlier.

"I'm not sure," she replied as honestly as she could. "A while, I suppose. I think I saw Sandy wait on her a while ago."

"Well, Sandy doesn't remember her," her boss replied, letting go of her arm. "I asked her."

She wouldn't, Blue thought to herself. That woman has the memory of gnat.

"Alright, then, go about your work," her boss instructed and Blue nodded then walked away. She made it around the counter and started serving up some the two orders of hot chocolate.

"Hey! Let go of me!"

Blue jumped when she heard the shout and stopped what she was doing to lean over the counter and see what was going on. She gave a small gasp when she saw the young girl who had been waiting for her order struggling against the manager of the diner who was holding her under her arms and shoving her toward the door as she struggled.

"You can't do this!" she snarled, still struggling. "I'm a customer! I paid for a meal!"

"You're loitering!" the manager snapped back, still shoving her toward the door. "You said you ordered food hours ago! Now get outta here! We're open for customers only!"

"But I am!" she shouted as everyone watched her being shoved out the door.

"Bull shit!" the manager snarled, and shoved the door open then almost threw her out and into the street. "Get outta here! I don't take in strays!"

"You stupid, son of a---!"

He shut the door before she finished insulting him, but she still ranted and raved outside, the sound of the rain along with the sound proof glass window and door drowned out her voice, however. Blue felt pity for the poor girl, but couldn't help her small smile of amusement as the girl still ranted and raved outside.

Blue watched as she was about to walk away but as soon as she caught sight of the boy with the girl she was serving, she became excited and started talking to him through the glass. Blue glanced between the two, but didn't catch any of what the girl was saying, only that the boy seemed confused but still responded to her.

"Blue!"

She jumped and turned to her manager who was still standing next to the door with a stern expression.

"Get to work!"

"Yes, boss," Blue nodded and noticed him step toward the door, looking straight at the girl still outside.

"I told you to get outta here!" he shouted through the window at the girl and she jumped at the sight of him then darted down the street. Blue gave an exhausted sigh and glanced up at the clock as she finished serving up the hot chocolates. One more hour and she could go home to a nice, warm fire.

She took the two cups carefully in her hands and started back toward the couple who'd ordered them, slapping a smile over her face as she did so.

"Here ya go!" she smiled, placing a steaming cup of hot chocolate each in front of them. "That outta warm you guys up!"

"Thank you, Blue," the boy replied and she nodded then looked at the girl and smiled, unable to resist asking her.

"Your perfume smells so nice. Can I ask what it is?" she wondered.

"This one does not wear perfume," the girl replied strangely.

"So that's your natural scent?" Blue giggled, partly at the way the girl talked and partly at her answer. "Well, you smell great."

"Thank you," the girl replied.

"Waitress!" a customer called before she could say anything else, and she hurried to help them.

"Yes, Sir?" she asked the man sitting at the window looking into the street.

"I asked for coffee a half hour ago, and I haven't gotten it yet!" he reported, grumpily.

"I'm so sorry, sir," Blue replied, gently. "I'll see what's taking so long and get you that coffee myself."

"Thank you," the man nodded, a little calmer. "That other waitress should be more like you."

"Thank you, sir," she smiled but before she walked away she noticed a figure hunched over outside the window sitting a few feet away, but not far enough that didn't spot him. She felt bad that whoever that was out there was sitting in the cold and decided his seat was in her station.

Assuring the customer in front of her that she would be right back, she hurried over the coffee machine, served up a mug of coffee and was about to serve a cup of hot chocolate as well, but her manager came up next to her.

"I thought I asked you to take out the trash," he recalled.

"Yes, boss," she nodded. "I'm sorry. I'll do that right now. Let me just get this coffee to one of the customers."

True to her word she carefully headed back to the man who had asked for his coffee and he gratefully received it with a thank you. She nodded and hurried back to the kitchen to gather the garbage. There was more then she thought, and the bags were huge.

She lugged the bags toward the back door leading to the alley and backed out, dragging the bags out in front of her. She blew a strand of her black hair from her blue eyes as she threw the bags into the dumpster then sighed in more exhaustion. She suddenly felt her hair standing on end and glanced down the alley to see a man all in black with piercing jade eyes and silver hair staring at her.

She looked back at him with a curious gaze as he only continued to stare at her, mouth slightly agape and she smirked, realizing he was yet another wolf, 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 and she frowned at him in confusion.

"We have?" she wondered, not recognizing him at all. "I don't remember. I think I'd remember seeing another wolf around like you."

"We've met, I know it," he insisted.

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

He stared at her for a moment and they both jumped with a start when they heard a crash and Blue spun around in shock to see a pile of trash cans had fallen 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 Blue saw the young girl that had been kicked out of the diner shove herself out of the trash in the alleyway and dust herself off. 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 Blue'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," she replied, a bit confused and frightened at the girl's energy and Ryooshi nodded then looked to the man behind her 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. Blue watched as the man stayed where he was but watched Ryooshi carefully as she slowly walked toward him, staying where she was as well, for the moment.

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

"How'd ya know that?" he humored, and Blue heard in his tone the he wasn't 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.

Blue took the opportunity to sneak away through the door she'd just come out of. She shut the door behind her and leaned back on it. She couldn't believe how many wolves she was meeting today. It was strange. She suddenly remembered the person outside the diner and hurried to serve up a cup of hot chocolate. After doing that she headed toward the front door and outside, turning to the hunched figure in the blue rain coat.

Her steps almost faltered when she noticed him jump and realized he was wolf as well, but managed to keep walking. She felt her heart skip a beat when he looked up at her and stared at her as she approached him with a smile.

"You look like you could use this," she smiled. "It's hot chocolate."

The boy with light brown hair and red-tinted eyes only stared at her for a moment then finally replied, "Say that again? The rain's really loud."

"I brought you some hot chocolate," she rephrased, still smiling warmly. "You look like you could use it."

"Oh," he chirped, taking the cup. "Thanks, Miss…?"

"Blue," she smiled again. "Just Blue. No Miss."

"Thanks…Blue."

She felt her heart skip a beat again hearing him say her name and but she managed to reply, "You're welcome…uh…?"

She trailed off, waiting for him to finish with his name, but he didn't catch his cue and just stared at her for a moment before it hit him.

"Oh! Hige!" he finally replied. "My name's Hige."

"Hige," Blue nodded, and couldn't help a strange sense of familiarity. It was as though she knew him from somewhere, but she couldn't remember to save her life, no matter how hard she though on it. She suddenly noticed him shove a hand into his pocket and wondered what he could be doing, then realized he was probably trying to pay for the drink.

"How much is this---?"

"Oh, don't worry about it!" she grinned, standing and Hige looked up at her with wide. "It's on the house. Feel free to come inside if you want, too."

"Nah," he shrugged. "I'm alright here."

Blue nodded, but didn't head back into the diner. She felt strange leaving him out there all alone, and also, for whatever reason, she didn't want to leave his company. She realized they were having an awkward silence and decided to break the ice by saying, "You know, you're the fifth wolf I've seen today."

He looked up at her with wide eyes and replied, "Really?! You're my fifth, too!"

"Where are they coming from?" she wondered with a smile of relief that they could talk comfortably with each other.

"I have no clue but some of them were staring at me," Hige reported. "And, I think I might know them, but I'm not sure."

"You know, one of the other wolves said that too," Blue replied, sitting next to him. "He said that he and I had met before, but I don't remember him. I said maybe we'd met in a past life."

"That makes sense," Hige nodded, taking a sip of his hot chocolate. She suddenly shivered and he looked at her with wide eyes. She didn't realize it was this cold out until now. She noticed him set his drink down and quickly pull off his rain coat, making her frown at him.

"What are you doing?" she wondered in astonishment. "Don't you need that? It's freezing!"

"You might need it more than I do," he smiled warmly and draped the coat over her shoulders.

"No! I can't! The rain---!"

"I'm fine, really," he assured her, picking up his drink and taking another sip. She stared at him with wide eyes filled with shock and awe and he gave a sideways glance as he smirked, "That makes four."

She frowned, not getting the joke and asked, "Four what?"

"Four wolves I've met that have stared at me," Hige smiled and she chuckled.

"Blue!"

They both jumped and turned to the diner entrance to see her manager standing in the doorway.

"I don't pay you to flirt when you should be taking orders!" he snapped and stormed back into the diner as Blue sighed in exasperation and slight disappointment then looked at Hige with a smile.

"I gotta go," she said and as she stood she went to give Hige the coat back, but he shook his head.

"Keep it," he smiled. "I don't need it now that I've got this…" He held up his hot chocolate and she stared at him with wide eyes again as she a slight blush come to her cheeks.

"You're sure?" she wondered, and Hige nodded again.

"Think of it as something to remember me by," he smirked with a wink and she smirked back, her hands on her hips.

"I'm not so easy," she retorted, causing his eyes to widen at her as she turned and walked back into the diner, taking the coat with her. She walked into the diner and couldn't believe how hard and fast her heart was pounding in her chest. She looked down at the jacket in her hands and smiled.

"Hige," she murmured with a smile. "Why do I have a weird feeling we'll be meeting again?"

"Blue!" the manager shouted at her, making her shoot her gaze up at him. "Get back to work!"

A/N: Yay! Hige and Blue! as i said before, i love this pairing! it's so cute! ok, so, how'd i do? reviews?