Chapter 1: Reflections and Romance

It was early March at a private senior high school in Japan, weeks away from the end of the school year and graduation for the twelfth graders. One student in particular, a girl named Yuki, was in her dorm room, starting to collect the various things she had stored throughout her stay there, soon to be ready to return to her mother at her farm far out in the countryside. She had no idea exactly what to do next in life, as she was unsure what she wanted to pursue; she would hope her mother would help guide her through that. She was thinking about this while going through all the letters she had received from home throughout her entire time in secondary school, which also contained photos from the past sent along with them. These were kept safe in a locked box where no one else could find them, as they alluded to a secret about herself she had to keep hidden all her life.

Yuki's big personal secret was that she was not entirely human; she was also a wolf, specifically a Honshū wolf—a species that has been extinct for over a century. Her father, who could shape-shift between the two species, was the last of his kind when he met her human mother named Hana, and it was their love that helped pass down the ability by giving birth to her and her little brother, Ame. Unfortunately, Hana was widowed shortly after the birth of their son due to the wolf man being hit by an automobile while in wolf form. She moved her family from the city to a remote farm, hoping to raise her children's dual lives in seclusion from others. Yuki originally embraced her wolf abilities while she was a little kid, while her brother Ame disliked it due to not wanting to be like a vicious beast. As they grew up, the opposite happened; Yuki put aside her wolf self so she could fit in better at school, while Ame didn't feel welcome in the human world and learned to be a wolf full-time instead, eventually taking the mantle of "guardian of the mountain" from an elderly fox that taught him. Their disagreement on how they decided to live each of their lives led to a brutal fight between the two that would cause them to distance each other for years. It wasn't until summer break in eighth grade that Yuki not only rediscovered her wolf self, but she was able to use that to find and reconcile with Ame, who had been too afraid to ever return home due to his actions. Now whenever Yuki returned home for any school break, she would be greeted warmly by Ame, waiting for her in his human form, and then the two would run around and play as wolves like they did when they were kids. Both siblings and their mother felt a sense of comforting bliss that day, and it would continue as they still lived apart from each other.

Despite Yuki being comfortable with her wolf self after that day, she still had to keep that hidden from everyone else due to the shocking revelation it might cause. Only one other person knew about this family secret, and that was her boyfriend, Sōhei. Yuki never thought that the boy she accidentally injured by suddenly partially transforming and scratching his ear would end up being her romantic interest. When she told him the truth, he said that he had known that all along, didn't mind at all, and wanted to help protect her secret. Not only that, but he was the one who convinced Yuki to become her wolf self again. Both Hana and Ame accepted his relationship with Yuki, knowing that he cared for and understood her. Yuki decided to make her romance with him official after that pivotal day, and she felt safe whenever he was around.

##

Continuing to clean up her dorm room, Yuki suddenly noticed a note slipped under her door. As she picked it up and read it, she instantly recognized the handwriting as Sōhei's. It told her that the two of them should meet that night out by the secluded pond near the school grounds. Yuki didn't know what Sōhei had planned, but she trusted him well enough to go through with it. At dusk, she left the dorms for the pond, making sure she was inconspicuous. When she finally got to the pond, the sky had already gone dark. She searched for Sōhei's location within the area, but then she soon heard him.

"Yuki! Over here!" He shouted out to her, sitting by the pond's edge.

Yuki ran over as soon as she spotted him from hearing his voice. She then sat down next to him at the edge.

"Why did you want to meet all the way out here?" she asked him.

"I thought that since we'd be graduating soon, we'd take this time to reflect on how far we've come." Sōhei responded.

"Well, that's still weeks away; there's got to be a particular reason why here and now," Yuki said back.

"Why don't you look up?" Sōhei requested.

Yuki did that and saw a bright full moon, which reflected down on the pond.

"I'd just thought it'd be fitting right now with you." Sōhei remarked.

Yuki turned her head to him and chuckled. "You know I'm not that kind of wolf."

"But it's still associated with them, and I often think of you when I see it," Sōhei replied.

"Well, it certainly is romantic," Yuki said, looking back up.

Sōhei looked up with her, and the two began to think about all the times they've been together since meeting back in fourth grade.

"It's hard to believe that such a traumatic moment could lead up to this." Yuki stated.

"It may have been like that for you." Sōhei said back. "To me, however, it was a real eye-opener. It made me realize that there really was more to you that made you special."

"Well, you didn't really know me when I first started school," Yuki replied. "All the other girls thought I was weird because of how my wolf instincts affected my interests. I was determined to fit in with them, and that's what led me to disregard what I was."

Sōhei turned his head towards her. "I never thought you were weird. In fact, I wouldn't mind if I saw your wolf form right now, even partially."

"Right now?!" Yuki worryingly replied, "There still could be people around!"

"Nobody is in the vicinity at this time of night," Sōhei responded. "You should have nothing to fear; it's just a way to prove our love."

"L-l-love?" Questioned Yuki in a shocked voice.

"Yes, Yuki," Sōhei calmly answered. "I more than just like you for what you are."

Yuki just stared at him, still coming to terms with the fact that he had just admitted his love right to her face. If he really meant what he said, then she figured that she'd prove that she loved him back. She smiled and closed her eyes; then she partially changed into a wolf so that she had wolf features but with a humanly proportioned body. Sōhei touched her face with his hand and stroked behind her ears.

"You're so pretty, even when you're like this; you realize that?" He said to her.

"Only you could say something like that," Yuki happily replied.

The two then embraced each other and kissed in the moonlight. Nobody was around to know what exactly happened right after that moment, but it was clear that if anything, it was done in a purely romantic manner. The two of them now felt complete.