A/N: yay! the next chappie! enjoy!

Chapter 18: Mid-night Comfort, Morning Comfession

"He invited us on the hunt tomorrow?!" Toboe grinned as Ryooshi led the pack into the tent they'd be spending the night in.

"Yup," she nodded as they trailed in. "I'm sure he'll be grateful to have a few of us get down and dirty with the hunt."

"Especially you, right?" Tsume smirked, sadistically. "Or does he not know about your past in hunting wolves?"

"Actually, he does," Ryooshi replied, unfazed. "That's not why he asked. And besides, wasn't it you that said you can't forget what you are? I'm a wolf, aren't I? Don't we hunt our food?"

"She's got you there, Tsume," Hige laughed as he sat down in the spot he planned to sleep.

"Shut your fat mouth, porky!" Tsume snarled as Blue gave Ryooshi two thumbs up behind Tsume's back. Frankly, Ryooshi wasn't planning on getting him back for making her feel horrible, she just wasn't going to put up with his smart remarks about her past anymore.

"We should get some rest," Kiba cut in before the 'discussion' got too heated, sitting in the place where he was going to sleep.

"Hey, runt, keep Kiba warm," Tsume muttered as he shoved Toboe toward the alpha.

"What for?" Toboe wondered, sitting next to Kiba, but Tsume said nothing as he stepped toward Ryooshi as she sat herself near the entrance of the tent.

"Move over a little," he ordered her and Ryooshi looked up at him with a frown.

"Why?" she asked, honestly and Tsume sighed, rolling his eyes as he stepped around her and closer to the entrance then sat.

"Move your tail over," he struggled against shoving her over. She moved, frowning at him as she did and he got himself comfortably laying down. She glanced around the tent and frowned at all the space in it then looked back at him.

"Why are you over here with me when there's a whole bunch of room?" she asked, drawing his attention to her. "As far as I can tell, you don't even like me."

"I came over here to watch out for the rest of us," he retorted. "If I sleep by the entrance, and an intruder shows up, I can chomp down on his leg and his scream will sound an alarm." He turned over on his side to face the tent entrance as Ryooshi stared at him and he muttered, "And I never said I didn't like you."

She could tell he hadn't wanted her to hear but she did, and she couldn't help but argue, "Yes you did. You said I pissed you off. That I annoyed you."

"In either of those statements did you hear the words 'I don't like you'?" he retorted and Ryooshi thought back, not only on those two statements, but on everything he'd ever said to her. She had to admit he was right. He never said he hated her or that he disliked her. She turned back to him and couldn't help but smile and he frowned in confusion as he didn't hear her say anything else, making him look over his shoulder at her.

"What?" he grunted, seeing her smiling and not being able to help wondering why she was doing it.

"N-Nothing," she sputtered, shaking her head quickly, her smile dropping and she turned to face her back to him and lay down on her side.

She allowed herself to smile again, feeling her heart flutter at the thought of Tsume not hating her guts like she had thought he did. She shivered, suddenly feeling the cold and her teeth started to chatter only slightly. She covered her mouth with both hands and closed her eyes to try to sleep. She couldn't understand why she was suddenly feeling so cold tonight when she had been fine the night before in the cave with Kiba.

"Now what's wrong with you?" Tsume asked, irritably.

"Nothing," she replied shakily, quickly lowering her hand to do so then whipping it back up to cover her mouth again.

"You don't know how to lie very well," he muttered, and she heard him shuffling behind her. She frowned and was about to look over her shoulder when she saw his arm wrap around her and her eyes grew wide in shock and awe as he pulled her hand from her mouth to lay it in front of her, his arm aligned with hers. She gave a small gasp when he pulled her only slightly toward him.

"Ts-Tsume?" she sputtered, not looking at him.

"What?" he asked.

"Can-Can I…turn around?" she asked, not feeling very comfortable that he was behind her.

"Whatever," he groaned, tiredly. He lifted his arm and she quickly spun around to face him, his eyes closed, and she laid down again. His arm instantly wrapped around her again and pulled her a little closer, but this time she scooted a little closer as well and he muttered, "Are you done moving around now?"

"Yes," she nodded, even though his eyes were still closed.

"Good, now I can get some sleep," he yawned, moving his free hand to lay it under his head and Ryooshi bit the corner of her lip in thought.

She hesitantly snuggled against his chest only a little, her hands in front of her, afraid to wrap them around him or even touch him. She didn't want him to get mad and shove her away. She liked the fact that he had his arm around her and that he was so close to her. Feeling her heart pounding in her chest, she prayed he couldn't feel it too, or the skip it made when he rested his chin on the top of her head.

Well, if you weren't sure you liked him earlier, you certainly do now, don't you? she thought to herself and smiled in satisfaction. I wonder if I should tell him soon how I feel about him. No, I'll just let things go the way they are. I don't wanna scare him or anything.

She smiled when he sighed tiredly and she felt the slow, steady rhythm of his heart as he started falling asleep. It helped her to fall asleep, but just before she did, she took the chance and wrapped her arms around his chest and smiled a little wider when he didn't move or get angry and only pulled her a touch closer in impulsive slumber.

Groaning and stirring, Tsume and Ryooshi tried to escape the blinding morning sunlight filling the tent by turning away from it, but as Ryooshi rolled onto her side she was met by a pair of boots. Frowning at them and rubbing the sleep from her eyes she looked up at the body the boots were attached to and found Toboe grinning at the two of them, widely.

"Good morning!" he cheered, still grinning and Tsume gave a groan behind Ryooshi as she stared with wide eyes at Toboe. She knew exactly why he was grinning. Suddenly feeling like she was being watched, she glanced behind her to see Hige, Blue and Kiba on the other side of Tsume who hadn't realized what was going on.

"Morning, you two," Hige smirked mischievously. "Did you sleep well?"

"We didn't do anything!" Ryooshi yelped quickly, shooting to her feet and wobbling a bit from lack of stretching. Tsume's arm, which had been around her waist, made a thud onto the dirt, kicking dust into the air as he stayed lying on the ground, still trying to sleep. "We were just…keeping each other warm. But not like that---!"

"We know, already, calm down!" Hige laughed.

"We always knew you two had a thing for each other," Blue smiled, her hands on her hips. Ryooshi was thankful Kiba was choosing to just smile and not say anything.

"I'm trying to sleep, here," Tsume grumbled and reached his hand out to find Ryooshi, but it came up empty.

"Aw, look," Toboe still grinned, pointing at Tsume's groping hand then looking at Ryooshi and saying, "He can't sleep without you!"

Ryooshi sighed in exasperation and kicked Tsume's hand making him groan tiredly again and finally open his eyes. He sat up and looked at the crowd around him as Ryooshi placed a hand over her face in embarrassment.

"What's for breakfast?" he simply asked and Ryooshi stared at him with wide eyes.

"Don't you care that they just saw us lying together?!" she snapped as he stood up, rubbing his eyes.

"Actually, I don't," he blurted. "I'm hungry."

"The villagers have some food ready for us," Kiba reported. Without another word, he and Tsume walked out of the tent as Ryooshi only stared at them with wide eyes filled with disbelief. She was suddenly pulled farther into the tent and shoved onto the ground with a thud, the three remaining wolves sitting around her.

"What the---?!"

"So what really happened?" Blue was the first too ask, eagerly.

"What?" Ryooshi frowned in wonder.

"Did you kiss?" Blue asked and Ryooshi's eyes widened as she stared at the other she-wolf.

"No!" she yelped, standing quickly, followed by the other three. "I told you! Nothing happened!"

"I told you he was only a jerk on the outside," Toboe smiled. "He really likes you, I'm sure."

"Now wait a minute---"

"Who made the first move?" Hige asked, and Ryooshi whipped her gaze to him.

"What…? There were no moves. He just walked over and told me to move over."

"Then why was his arm around you?" Toboe asked, and she turned to him.

"Because I was cold," she replied then glanced around at them and asked, "Weren't you guys in the same tent?! Why am I telling you what you all saw already?!"

"We were asleep," Toboe shrugged but Hige and Blue glanced at each other with shared smirks which Ryooshi caught.

"Yeah, you guys were probably making out," she smirked at them but Hige only slung his arm over Blue's shoulders. "Why do you guys care if Tsume and I did anything last night? Is it really any of your business?"

"You don't want to talk about it?" Blue wondered with a frown.

"There's nothing to talk about because we didn't do anything," Ryooshi replied, walking past the three and toward the tent entrance. "I'm hungry. Let's get breakfast."

She stepped out of the tent but before she could get anywhere, a hand gripped her wrist and she gave a yelp as it pulled her around to the back of the tent. The hand let go but replaced itself along with the other hand onto her arms as she looked up at the face the hands belonged to.

"Tsume, what's the matter?!" she asked breathlessly, her heart pounding in her chest as he only stared at her. She stared back for a moment before becoming embarrassed and she cast her gaze down as a blush came to her cheeks but he still stared at her.

"Stop staring at me," she requested, softly but he didn't obey, and she could feel his gaze boring into her, making her face even redder. "Tsume, I mean it. Quit staring at me."

"Why?" he finally asked.

"Because you're making me blush," she muttered, softly.

"And I wanna know why," he replied, not letting go of her either.

"I don't know why," she lied, still not looking at him.

"You like me, don't you?" he asked, seriously.

"I never said that," she muttered.

"No, but I'm right, aren't I?" he questioned. "If you didn't you'd be angry and tell me I'm an arrogant asshole, right?"

"You are an arrogant asshole!" she snarled, finally looking up at him.

"And you don't care," he retorted. "You still like me."

"Let go of me before I bite your paws off!" she growled, starting to struggle against his grip. "And don't think I won't do it! I will!"

"Would you hold still, mutt?!" Tsume spat.

"Would you quit calling me mutt?!" Ryooshi shot back, still struggling. "Why the hell do you care so much whether I like you or not?! Until last night you were still so mad at me you didn't even wanna look at me!"

"Maybe I don't mind you so much anymore?!" he shot back. "I'm done being mad at you!"

"Then why do you still call me a mutt?!" she growled, finally giving up in struggling against his grip. "I'm no half-breed! I keep telling you that, but you don't listen!"

"Well what else am I supposed to call you?!" he questioned.

"How about you try calling me by my name?!" she retorted. "You said my name once and it was---!" She cut herself off and cast her eyes down again as he stared at her, waiting for her to finish.

"It was what?" he urged when she still said nothing.

"It was…nice," she shrugged slightly and to her surprise, he let go of her arms, making her look up at him with wide eyes filled with wonder.

"You really don't like being called mutt, do you?" he realized.

"Gee, what was your first clue?" she shot back, sarcastically.

"Why not?" he asked seriously, making her irritation melt away and she swallowed as he only stared at her, waiting for her answer.

"The human that was my partner used to call me that," she murmured, casting her gaze down again to twiddle her thumbs. "They all called us that. They never called us by our names, or in my case, my number."

"Oh," he replied, vacantly then glanced around and took her wrist in his hand as he sat and gently ordered, "Sit down."

"Why?" she asked, honestly.

"Just sit, will ya?" he grumbled, pulling her wrist hard enough so she sat next to him and she adjusted herself then looked at him as he brought his knees up to lean his elbows on them. "You asked me how I got this scar one time, back in the city, right?"

Ryooshi swallowed and nodded, staring at him.

"It happened years ago," he explained, but Ryooshi placed a hand on his shoulder, drawing his gaze to hers.

"You don't have to tell me just because---"

"Just shut up and listen, ok?" Tsume interrupted, lifting a hand to silence her and she gave a small sigh but nodded, lowering her hand. He nodded and faced forward again as he continued, "Anyway, I wasn't always on my own. I was part of a pack when I was about Toboe's age, maybe younger." He looked back at Ryooshi. "I wasn't always an asshole. I was actually pretty trusting of my pack and they trusted me, too.

"One day we went sniffing around this old building for food. Turned out it belonged to those Wolf Hunters. They tried to round us all up but when most of us got away they tried shooting at us. Those of us that were caged called for help, and we tried to go back for them. That is, all of us, except me. I'm not one to admit when I'm scared, but I nearly pissed myself at the thought of going back. I tucked tail and ran out of there, leaving the rest of my pack behind.

"The ones that survived and came back found me cowering under some bridge. The alpha did this with his teeth…" He ran his fingertips over his scar as Ryooshi stared at him in compassion. "They thought I was dead, and now that I think about it, maybe I should have."

Ryooshi's shot wide in disbelief as she still stared at him and breathed, "Why do you think that?"

"The same thing happened in my past life," he replied. "Not exactly, but close enough. They trusted me and I let them down."

"So you think you deserved to die because you were scared?" Ryooshi replied. "It's not like you did it because you wanted to see them taken away or killed. You were scared. There's nothing wrong with that. I bet if something like that happened to Kiba and the others, you wouldn't hesitate to go back for them."

"You don't know that," he retorted.

"Sure I do," she smiled, sweetly. "You didn't hesitate to go back for me…twice."

"That was different," he insisted.

"No it wasn't," she argued. "You didn't even know me, but you helped me anyway. And besides, you were a pup back then. Toboe would have been just as scared as you were back then. Hell, I would have been scared."

"Stop it," Tsume blurted, making Ryooshi frown in confusion.

"Stop what?" she asked, honestly.

"Trying to make me feel better," he replied.

"But I can't let you think that you should have died back there rather than trying to keep on living," she insisted. "You never would have found Toboe and the others again and remembered your friendship with each of them. And---"

She stopped herself from finishing her sentence and hoped he hadn't caught it as she sat back a little, looking away from him in embarrassment. Tsume frowned and looked at her, waiting for her to finish, but when she didn't he prompted, "And?"

Ryooshi shot a wide-eyed gaze of panic at him but instantly shook her head and looked away again.

"Oh, spit it out, will ya, Ryooshi?" he snarled, and she looked back at him in surprise then smiled only slightly.

"You said my name," she whispered.

"Yeah, so?" he shrugged. "What else were you gonna say? What else wouldn't have happened if I'd have died when I should have?"

She gazed down at her lap, twiddling her thumbs, then muttered, "If you had died…I never would have met you."

Instead of giving a sarcastic remark, Tsume thought about that, taking note that his heart skipped a beat in panic at that thought. It was true. If he had died when his alpha had tried to kill him, he and Ryooshi never would have met, and that scared him the most, even out of not meeting and remembering Toboe and the others. He could guess why that was, but he didn't want to dwell on it.

He glanced at her, still sitting next to him, twiddling her thumbs and it was starting to drive him crazy that she was being so quiet and shy. He didn't like it when she was like this. He liked seeing her energetic and cheerful. Placing his hand over her fidgeting ones, making her freeze and look up at him he gave a small smirk but said nothing.

"What?" she wondered.

"You should get your hair redone," he suggested. "It looks like crap."

"Well excuse me, Mister I-Only-Have-A-Thin-Ponytail-To-Contend-With!" she snapped and Tsume chuckled, patting her hands. "Why don't you coordinate my next hairstyle, since you're obviously so fashionable with your torn jacket?!"

"Do I look like a hair dresser to you?" Tsume shot back, and Ryooshi had to stifle a snicker by snorting, softly.

"Just the fact that you called yourself a hair dresser scares me, just a little," she snickered.

"I asked if I looked like one," he corrected. "I didn't say I was one, did I?"

"Just about," Ryooshi nodded. "When you said my hair looks like crap you as good as admitted it."

Tsume glared at her, trying to find something smart to say, but as she looked at him expectantly with a slight smile over her lips, he drew a blank. Instead, he pulled his hand away from hers as it had been sitting there the whole time and muttered, "Bite me."

"I'd rather not," she retorted, and as he stood, she felt her heart race in panic and scrambled to her feet as he dusted himself off.

"We'd better find the others," he suggested, shoving his hands in his pant pockets and heading out from behind the tent.

Ryooshi nodded after him, dusting herself off as well, but before she could even think to turn and walk out from behind the tent, Tsume stepped back and pressed a small kiss to her cheek, making her freeze as her heart jumped in her chest before he walked away again without a word. She blinked in shock and lifted her hand to her cheek as her face turned beet red and she turned to watch him walk away with a small smile.

Did that just happen? she asked herself. Did he just...kiss me?

Her smile grew, but she looked around before giggling and spinning in circles a few times and skipped out from behind the tent toward her friends, still grinning.

A/N: hee hee. 'Aw, look! He can't sleep without you!' hee hee hee. i'm proud of that line, and i'm sure you will all agree that Toboe would be the one to say that. ok, ok...so i was trying to figure out, with Tsume and Ryooshi, the first kiss would have to be either while they were arguing, or out of the blue on someone's cheek. i chose to go the other way, and i had Tsume do it cause it would be way too predictable of Ryooshi to do it. reviews?