Chapter 4: Unforeseen Circumstances
"Alpha, huh? I'm Kagami. Kagami Taiga," Kagami looked around himself with more attention. Riko smirked, her dark shirt helping her blend into the dark and her brown tail swishing gently at her back. The wolf – Kuroko – trotted up to him. Kagami blinked down into those round golden eyes. "H-hello there…"
Only purebloods could change into full wolves, and that too could only be done under the light of a full moon. This lupine gazing curiously at him was a pureblood.
"Anyway," Aomine cleared his throat, slowly standing up while shooting wary glares at the werewolves. "I should go." He was already late to the meeting Akashi had called for, any later and the results wouldn't be…fun.
Riko's eyes narrowed at him. "In a rush?"
"Only when you're around," Aomine muttered. His gaze met Kagami's, and those crimson eyes grabbed him. He found it surprisingly difficult to nod a goodbye, turning around and ignoring the frowns of the people around him before he disappeared into the shadows.
A long sigh left Riko's lips. "That…wasn't what I was expecting." Kagami raised an eyebrow as she turned around and pushed open the cast iron gate, beckoning him in. "Come on, we've got some talking to do."
Kuroko flicked his tail against Kagami's legs, then arched his back as if he was about to pounce. Kagami's eyes widened as right in front of him, silver-blue fur melted into pale skin and a mop of light blue hair, keeping the tail and ears the same. Golden irises flickered into sky blue, and a thin short man stood up on two legs, pulling his arms over his shoulders to stretch his muscles.
"Hello, Kagami-kun," the naked man smiled and Kagami squealed, stumbling back.
Kuroko's pale lips twitched in amusement as Riko snorted. "What, never seen another wolf shift?" At Kagami's lack of response, her face slackened. "Are you…wait, seriously?" She walked closer to him, sniffing his neck, and Kagami squirmed at the close distance. "You look like a werewolf, but you smell…" she scrunched her nose. "Werewolf, but there's something else there." Her gaze caught on something around Kagami's neck, hidden by his jacket and only visible from a close distance and by someone with sharp night vision. "What's this?" she reached for it but Kagami stepped back, clutching the silver chain.
"It...it's a charm. A protection charm," Kagami replied.
Riko looked at him silently, then jerked a thumb at Kuroko, deciding to drop the matter. "You've seriously never seen someone morph?"
Kagami shrugged, avoiding looking at Kuroko as they all started walking deeper into the woods. It really was a nature reserve, with tall branches filtering the moonlight and throwing eerie shadows against the beaten path. "Well, I've seen my dad turn back, but he always had someone with a robe standing nearby…" he trailed off, biting his lip.
"So, your father's a pureblood…" Riko shot him a glance. "But you…"
Kagami rubbed his arms. It seemed a little cold through his ripped jacket. "My mother was a human."
"Was?"
Kagami looked away. "Where are we going?"
The obvious change of topic didn't go unnoticed by the Alpha, but she realised she may have been pressing him a bit too much. This werewolf was interesting to say the least. "Back to our main cabin. We don't literally live under the trees, unlike what those vamps might think," she scowled. "Well, if it makes you feel better, I'm a mix too. My grandpa was a pureblood."
It didn't really make him feel better, but it did make him curious. "So, how did you end up as Alpha, and not…" he motioned to Kuroko, still not looking straight at the man. He couldn't believe someone was so comfortable walking around in their birthday suit.
"Kuroko Tetsuya," Kuroko said quietly. "You get used to walking around with no clothes on when you can shift. It feels quite nice, and over here, it's only us werewolves."
Kagami flushed. Did he read my mind?
"I didn't read your mind," Kuroko smiled softly. "It was written all over your face."
Riko laughed. "You've got a lot to learn. As to how I became Alpha? Maybe that's a story for another day." She pointed up the path to where Kagami could see artificial lighting shining through the foliage. "We're here. Kuroko-kun, you have a report for me, don't you? But maybe you should get dressed first."
Kuroko nodded, and dashed ahead of Kagami. In a blur he turned from a running figure to a flash of silver fur as his wolf form bounded forwards, Kagami watching in awe. He'd always wished he could change, but he knew he couldn't, so there was no point in trying.
No point to a lot of things, but he still had a purpose in Tokyo. He just didn't know what it was yet.
"Why are you here?"
He looked across at Riko.
"In Tokyo. You're not from here," she grinned.
"Los Angeles. But my dad is originally from Japan," Kagami kicked at the dead leaves. "I just came back because I wanted to, well, explore my heritage."
Riko was sure he was being vague on purpose, but she'd figure out more about him later. All in due time. "Will you be here long?"
"As long as it takes," Kagami replied softly.
As long as it took to do what, Riko wasn't entirely sure.
"Vampires only?" Riko leaned back on the wooden chair, resting her feet on the table. The boots shed dirt onto the polished wood, but she didn't even glance at it.
"That's what Kise-kun said," Kuroko stood by the doorway. "Akashi-kun will be there too of course, but everyone else is a vampire, purebloods. I wouldn't be able to go even if I wanted to, just like Kise-kun."
"It was nice of him to tell you," Riko snorted, looking into the flames of the fireplace. "Thought he'd hold a grudge over you quitting."
"That was a long time ago," Kuroko mumbled, staring into the heat as well.
Kagami felt out of place. He was in Tokyo, the metropolitan giant of Japan. But he found himself sitting in a cabin deep in the woods of a nature reserve. Granted, it was a huge cabin, and one of about half a dozen. It was the largest of them all, with a meeting room and kitchen, multiple bathrooms and bedrooms. It felt more like a holiday home. Flames from the fireplace in the room licked the marble top as Riko teased it with a poker.
"So," Riko stood up, breaking the silence. "It's early morning, I think it's better if we introduce Kagami-kun to the rest of the pack later. After his first assignment."
Kagami's ears flicked. "Uh, sorry?"
"You're not sleepy yet, right? What with the time difference and the full moon," she directed at Kagami, her teeth flashing in a cheeky smile.
Kagami wanted to refuse any offer she made with that face, but thought better of it. "I-I'm fine."
He had a bad feeling about this.
"Good," Riko straightened her shirt and patted down her khaki pants. "Akashi's security knows Kuroko's smell, obviously, and unfortunately they know mine and my pack's a bit too well too," her mouth twisted. "Many a recon mission failed."
"You mean many a spying mission," Kuroko said in a deadpan and ignored the glare Riko aimed at him.
She huffed. "Anyway, we needed new blood, and we got it."
"What's going on?" Kagami swallowed.
Her chocolate eyes flashed with mischief. "You're going to spy on the vampires for us."
Shit. Aomine groaned as he ran past the men standing at the gates of the mansion, barrelling through the doors and skidding to a halt in the main hall.
He had forgotten to pick up Mai-chan, and when he'd gone back for her, he couldn't find here anywhere, wasting more valuable time.
Shit.
"This way, quick!"
He turned to see a woman with flowing pink hair waving wildly, her fangs pressed against her painted lips as she hissed at him to hurry up.
"Satsuki, fuck," Aomine jogged over as she frowned at him, straightening his tie and running her hand through his hair to tidy it. At least, she was trying, but their height difference was making it a bit difficult. "It's a long story-"
"Tell me later!" she snapped, pushing him into a room off to the side.
Aomine had been to Akashi's place many times in the past, but the grandness of it always made him feel strange. The mansion was so big, he was sure even he hadn't seen all of it yet. The meeting room was a bit more old-fashioned, with a high ceiling crisscrossed with wooden beams to support it. Originally designed to be an attached church, Akashi's grandfather had stopped the construction halfway when he bought the place, and turned it into a meeting room for the VLSA.
The Vampire, Lycanthrope and Sorcerer Alliance. Founded a few centuries ago, and trying hard to keep things from falling apart.
Although today, it was obviously only vampires and sorcerers here. Sorcerer, if one was being pedantic. A single sorcerer, who was now staring at Aomine over the long table from his seat, with a mixture of anger and exasperation in his eyes.
"Sorry, Akashi," Aomine rubbed his hair, messing it up again.
"Momoi-san informed me of your lateness, so I was expecting this," Akashi sighed, resting his head against the back of his chair.
"Sastuki's useful like that," Aomine mumbled, plopping down in the only empty seat after Momoi had sat down. "Uhm, I couldn't find Mai-chan…"
"I picked it up for you," Momoi rolled her eyes when Aomine pouted at her. "Gave it to Akashi-kun."
"Why you insist calling your priceless sword after a gravure idol, only you could know," Akashi pressed his lips together, reaching beside him and placing a sleek katana on the table in front of him. Its ebony sheathe gleamed in the gentle lighting, and Akashi drew it out a slight bit to reveal a pure silver blade winking in the light.
A weapon created to kill werewolves.
"Mai-chan got married and quit the year I got this sword," Aomine placed a hand on his heart in mock pain. "I had to dedicate it to her-"
"You're fooling no one," another man snapped, his glasses gleaming as he glowered at Aomine. "Horikita Mai married after you got that thing, so we all know it was to spite your father. Only you would choose such a method."
"Shut up, Midorima. You aren't even a vampire," Aomine scowled, before his lips turned up in a wry smile at the memory. "But seriously, you should've seen his face when I told him that I was naming the precious family heirloom after my favourite porn magazine model-"
"Shall we move on to business," Akashi cut across their conversation. "The reason I called you is because there has been an attack, on a pureblood vampire, just earlier this night."
Everyone leaned forwards with curiosity, but Aomine froze.
His skin prickled, but not with fear. His heart beat faster, but not with anxiety. He felt his toes curl at that familiar scent, light in the air, only now registering clearly in his brain.
He looked around him, but nobody had noticed. Akashi was talking, but Aomine couldn't hear him.
No fucking way.
He looked up slowly, and just as he did, something fell from the beams on the ceiling, dropping like a stone right in the centre of the table with a resounding BANG.
A groan came from parted pink lips, and red lashes blinked blearily to stare upside down at Aomine. Crimson eyes dulled from the fall focused slowly on Aomine's face.
Kagami Taiga gave him a wobbly grin; a werewolf caught right in the middle of a vampire meeting. "Uhm…surprise?"
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