Chapter Text
The last few days leading up to the full moon, Shouta's behavior changed – but not much. There's been a bit more instinctual reaction to things as opposed to his normal careful logical thinking, and he tends to growl sometimes if he's even just a little upset by something, but going out of his mind? Going feral? He hasn't even come close.
He's also been incredibly clingy, more-so than he's been the month leading up.
The day of the full moon he's knocked out cold, sleeping deep and heavy as the magic courses through his system. At first his parents and Hizashi worry, but occasionally he mumbles something under his breath or rolls over in bed, so it must not be too much to worry about.
(“Is this normal?” Haruto asks quietly as the three of them peek into the bedroom again for the fifth time that day.
“I think so,” Hizashi whispers, a touch uncertainly. “I mean, to be fair – the curse is waking up because of the lunar cycle and it is Shouta's first full moon... So it isn't unusual for him o be tuckered out. Magic can do that to you, especially if there's a lot of it and you're not really used to it.”
“Oh, will he be able to do any of the spells you can?” Shouhime asks, turning curious eyes to him as they all turn away from the bedroom. Really, all of them need to be getting their own naps in, otherwise they'll be too exhausted to help Shouta when the sun finally sets. “Or perhaps fly that broom of yours?”
Hizashi grins. “No, sorry.”)
The moment the moon rises, Shouta wakes.
Shouta doesn't transform, much to everyone's shock and surprise. Everyone stares in confusion as Shouta only goes still and stares into space for several minutes after he comes down the stairs, simply breathing deeply. It makes Hizashi a little anxious (okay, a lot anxious); this is different from everything he knows about werewolves, after all. They all had even cleared out a room for him to shift in, not wanting him to accidentally injure himself with a bunch of furniture in a new body. But, when he finally seems to come back to himself, sucking in a sharp breath and blinking around the room with gold-tinted eyes, his behavior turns into that of a wolf.
A very energetic and affectionate wolf.
Hizashi had been all prepared to have to bind Shouta and have to tether his soul – magic already curling over his fingers, every single one of his limbs tense where he sits curled up on the couch – but the moment Shouta lays eyes on him he's suddenly pinned to his seat so that the young man can snuggle up to him and chuff happily.
“Sh-Sh-Shouta!?” Hizashi yelps, flushing head to toe as his friend shifts until he's comfortable on top of him. Strong arms wrap around, only a barrier of the blanket and their clothing between them, and the witch feels his brain short-circuit at being held and laid on so casually in the middle of the living room. There's a warmth spreading over his face and over his ears and down his chest and he's practically ready to die from how his heart keeps stalling over and over. ”Hey, um, just - don't you think maybe we can, uh, sit up a bit?"
No, he isn't squeaking.
"This is fine," Shouta says, quiet. The words are followed by a nose and scruffy chin scraping the skin on his neck. "I like this."
'I'm going to die,' Hizashi thinks irrationally. Out loud, he makes a strangled noise and attempts to pull the blanket higher to try and cover his burning face. Luckily, Shouta allows him this, only raising a bit so that Hizashi can get comfortable, and then he's lowering himself back down to wrap his arms around him again. It's so intimate being held like this, and as Shouta turns his head to look at the television that's in the middle of playing some drama he wonders if he'll combust from some full-body cuddling instead of a werewolf bite tonight.
At least he's not trying to maim anyone.
For a good few hours Shouta alternates between laying on top of Hizashi and bounding around the house. The treadmill in the back room gets a lot of use in a short amount of time, and Haruto and Shouhime have both done their best to anchor things down so that it doesn't get knocked over when their wildly energetic son races through. Hizashi tries to help when he can.
When he's, well, not being snuggled up to and unable to move from the couch.
The fourth time Shouta has him pinned, chuffing happily and rubbing his chin over his collarbone, Hizashi feels completely overwhelmed. His heart is stalling again, and he wants to hide-hide-hide away because he's terrified of how much affection the other is showing him. Sure, he's been hanging around a lot in the recent days, but it's like... It's like it's times a thousand! How is one human being, magic or not, supposed to be able to handle that!?
"Zashi?" Shouta asks, hands warm on his back and shoulders through the blanket. He scraps his scruffy chin on his neck again. "What's wrong? Are you feeling okay? You feel warm."
Oh gods kill him. "I - I - I'm fine!"
"Shouta, sweety, maybe you should let Hizashi have some breathing room for a bit," he can hear Shouhime call from the kitchen, amusement in her tone. She's normally a sweet and kind woman, but at the moment Hizashi feels like she's an angel. "Want to hop on the treadmill for a bit?"
"... That... Sounds good, actually," Shouta says, sounding so surprised that Hizashi can't help cracking a smile even with how much he's trying to not combust. "Can I bring the treadmill in here so I can stay close to Hizashi?"
"...Shouta."
Thankfully it seems Shouta isn't too far gone that he won't listen to that particular tone coming from his mother. It takes him a moment because he's absolutely reluctant to leave Hizashi alone, but he does climb off of him. Slowly and obviously reluctantly. He makes a quietly disappointed noise that absolutely charms Hizashi despite how flustered he is.
"I'll still be here when you get back," Hizashi pokes his head out to promise. He's aware of how red he must be, but he forgets about it when Shouta smiles brightly at him, full of teeth. (The way it lights his face up steals his breath away, and for a moment he forgets that Shouhime is just in the other room.)
"I'll be back." Shouta promises, and it should be ridiculous because of course he'll be back. They live in the same house after all. But Hizashi still finds himself nodding, accepting his promise before Shouta turns and leaves the room. When Hizashi turns his head he finds Shouhime leaning against the kitchen doorframe, looking at him with amusement and a knowing sort of gleam in her eye. He startles and blushes red. "Ah, right... How long have you been standing there again, Shouhime-san?"
Shouhime laughs, hiding it behind a hand as she strides over to the couch to sit by Hizashi's feet. "Sweetheart, I've been in the kitchen for about an hour now," she tells him, grinning at the way Hizashi whines in embarrassment. "Did you forget? I'm going over applications for internships at my workplace?"
Hizashi groans and buries himself back in the blankets. "I can't believe I let Shouta just - when you were - and I promised - !"
"Everything happening was innocent," Shouhime reassures, squeezing an ankle. "Though I could tell that the way Shouta was trying to... Snuggle up was a little much for you." The way she says it, open and open ended, makes Hizashi peek out from the blanket again.
"... I just... He's never been... Like this before," Hizashi admits. He rolls a little so that he's able to sit up properly, though he keeps the blanket over himself. "I'm used to the Shouta who would be quiet and just... Deal with my hugs, and hide smiles whenever he laughed. Well, except for when he's laughing at me. Then he doesn't hide that grin of his."
"So is he too different?" Shouhime asks, tilting her head curiously and yet keeping her voice soft and kind. "This Shouta - the one that is around during the full moon."
"No - I - it's not the difference that's hitting me," Hizashi says, hugging his knees, and he tucks his chin between them as his ears turn pink again. "It's... I-I know that werewolves are supposed to be. They're supposed to be instinctual. And they tend to cling to the people and things they like most during the full moon. And I just..." He's quiet a moment more, biting his lip. "I had no idea he liked me so much, and it's... It's doing funny things to m-my heart."
"Good things, I hope?" Shouhime asks gently. She reaches out to run a gentle hand through Hizashi's hair and smiles when he leans into the touch.
(He's always been a tactile sort of person, but he's really opened up since he officially moved in with them. She doesn't push when he doesn't answer straight away. Neither her son or Hizashi have confronted their feelings for each other yet, and she isn't sure if Hizashi is ready to admit to them even to himself quite yet.
So when he hesitantly nods it surprises her. Just a little bit.)
"Y-yeah. Maybe a little." He admits. He keeps his eyes firmly on his blanket, fidgeting with it so he doesn't have to look at her. "Maybe even a lot?" Shouhime makes an understanding noise. She keeps petting his hair in soft, rhythmic motions to help put him at ease. "I-I like it!" He blurts out, like if he gives himself time to think about it he'll never say it. "It's just.... A lot. Sometimes. I don't really know how to handle it, I guess."
"Haruto and I can distract him if you like," She offers. Hizashi thinks about it, making as if to nod before hesitating.
"Only when it's too much," He finally says, although with the way his voice pitches upwards it comes out as more of a question.
"Only when it's too much," Shouhime agrees easily.
* ~ _ ~ * ~ _ ~ *
Haruto and Shouhime distract Shouta a total of five times over the course of the night. Four times because Hizashi can't handle the attention without blushing and stammering like a fool, and once because he falls asleep and the parents don't want Shouta disturbing Hizashi's rest.
"But I want to be close to him," Shouta huffs in frustration.
"Let him sleep, Shouta," Haruto says soothingly, drawing his son away from where Hizashi has passed out cold on the couch. "He's had a rough few weeks and deserves to at least have a few hours."
Everyone knows how stressed Hizashi was to find a way to help both the rogue, feral werewolf and Shouta, and it's enough to get him to back off for the rest of the night. He remembers the way Hizashi had trembled in the doorway, gripping his broom tight with both hands, before running out to face down the 'wolf who'd bitten him. He also remembers how Hizashi had been practically limp with relief when he'd finally returned, eyes red and puffy and the remnants of tears on his cheeks.
Hizashi still hasn't really talked about what had happened. All he's said is that he helped the guy and got him home, and that after the full moon Hizashi needs to assess the magic in both of them to make sure they're okay.
So, Shouta let's him rest, even as his these new instincts are telling him to cover the blonde like a blanket and smother him in his scent, protect him from anything and everything. Much to his parent's exasperation and amusement, he goes back to bounding around the house, trying to use up all of his excess energy. He still has no idea where it all comes from, even knowing legends about werewolves and how they act during the full moon.
Around five in the morning though, that endless, agitated energy coursing through him finally dies down, and suddenly Shouta just... Wants to drop. Haruto yelps in surprise when Shouta just nose dives on the stairs, catching him before he brains himself on the banister.
Shouta sleeps pretty much like the dead the next day, barely waking up to crawl out of bed to use the bathroom or eat when he needs it. And his body needs a lot to eat. He doesn't really feel it until he places food in his mouth but then he just can't seem to stop. He vaguely hears Hizashi explaining that this is normal and that his body needs a lot of calories to run now.
“It's the magic,” Hizashi says to the table at large. “And magic needs energy to run.”
"But he didn't even transform last night," Shouhime points out. His mother sounds a bit confused honestly, and he agrees. “All he did was run around and knock things over.”
Shouta can't be bothered to scowl at her. He knows it's true.
"I'm... not entirely sure about that one honestly. It could be that only feral werewolves actually shift? Or it could be that he's new. I'd have to look into it." Hizashi sounds apologetic, and Shouta finds himself reaching out to grab his wrist in a silent gesture of support. Shouta's new instincts make him rather tactile. It's been somewhat hard and confusing to get used to - the human side of him becomes unhappy with too much touch, and the wolf side of him becomes unhappy with too little.
(And yet, contact with Hizashi doesn't seem to count as "too much touch".)
Hizashi doesn't try to pull away or get Shouta to let go. Instead he places a hand over Shouta's, making a pleased warmth well up inside of him as his friend keeps talking to his mother and father.
He can't stay at the table, unfortunately. Even as he finishes his meal sleep tugs at his mind again, making him blink rapidly as he tries to fight it. He wants to stay with his parents and Hizashi, he doesn't want to go back upstairs and sleep. But Hizashi notices, laughing fondly as he watches his friend struggle. "Come on, I think you need to get back to bed."
And well. If it's Hizashi saying so, he supposes going back to sleep can't be all that bad.
* ~ _ ~ * ~ _ ~ *
Iida Tsubasa and Tenchi sit together across from where Hizashi carefully examines Tensei's soul, both of their hands intertwined together as they wait quietly for the witch to finish. The moment Hizashi lowers his hands, breathing out slowly, they lean forward eagerly. “Well?” Tsubasa asks, biting her lip. “How is he?”
A smile crosses the witch's lips. “Everything look A-okay!”
Relief has both parents slumping backwards into their seats, and Tensei laughs, somewhat tiredly. “I told you I felt fine,” he tells them. “Only tired from being up all night.”
“It's actually pretty fascinating to look at,” Hizashi admits, picking up his cup of tea. “The chaotic strands I tethered are healing where they are – like, they look really healthy – and your soul doesn't look anywhere near as frayed as when I found you a few days ago, Tensei-san.”
(Hizashi is going to have to write all of this down later, because maybe he's found something of a cure for feral 'wolves.)
“Not too sure what that means, but it sounds good,” Tensei says.
“Nii-san was a dog!” Tenya chirps from his older brother's knee, eyes wide with amazement and grinning. “Really big and fluffy and fast! It was cool!”
“Your brother does seem like he'd be a really cool dog,” Hizashi tells him seriously, smile widening when Tenya beams. Looking up at the older occupants in the room, he tilts his head. “So he wasn't feral? He only transformed?”
“I knew who I was the whole time,” Tensei promises as he leans over to pick his brother up. The little boy wriggles so that he's comfortable in his lap, eyes wide as he watches the conversation around them.
“Honestly, he was a whiny dog all night,” Tenchi says with amusement now that the examination is over. “After Tenya had gone to bed he sat by his door and whimpered pathetically – “
“I wasn't that bad!”
“He also basically took over the back yard,” Tusbasa says. She points out the window, hiding a smile with her teacup, and Hizashi looks out curiously. “You see that circle in the grass? That's from him running in circles for hours. We're pretty sure he was trying to pave a new race track.”
“I had a lot of energy!” Tensei whines, pouting at his parents.
“And you're really feeling alright now?” Hizashi asks, because he can't be too cautious here. “Just tired?”
“Like I said, aside from being tired and everything, I'm good," Tensei admits with a small shrug. "And I have you to thank, Yamada-san."
Hizashi grins, relieved and delighted. "That's great! Are you adjusting alright to being back home?"
Tensei laughs. "Are you kidding?" He asks. "I - I went crazy because I was away from home. Being back here is like chicken soup for my soul. I've even already talked to my school administrators, and when the next semester starts I'm good to start my classes. I'll be the only magical person there, so they have to make special accommodations, but... I'm getting back on track."
"I'm so happy for you," Hizashi tells him honestly. "If you ever need any help in the magic department, well, I'm your guy, okay? Anything you need."
"I will definitely keep that in mind."
* ~ _ ~ * ~ _ ~ *
When he returns back to the Aizawa household, Shouta's awake again, laid out on the living room couch and blinking sleepily at the television. A quick look at what's playing has Hizashi's lips curling up and a snicker escaping. “Infomercials?”
“They're mind numbing,” Shouta says, words sleep-slurred. He turns dark eyes – no longer the gold of the curse – up to where Hizashi leans on the back of the couch with a pout. “You left.”
“I had to go check on Iida, remember?” Hizashi walks around the couch to sit down, and with that Shouta is pushing himself to sit cross-legged so that he can face the other. “And now... Now I need to check on you.”
Shouta hums, nodding. “I'm fine, you know. Just tired.”
“It doesn't mean I shouldn't be sure,” Hizashi argues gently. “Usually werewolves shift with the moon – Iida did, you know? Turned into a giant puppy. But all that happened with you is that your eyes changed color. That's... Well, it's weird, yeah?”
Shouta only shrugs. “I'm no expert. But if you feel the need to check, then that's fine. I trust you.”
Those words again. Hizashi ducks his head as his cheeks go warm, remembering how Shouta had said them over and over throughout the last month. It does funny things to his heart, and Hizashi isn't sure whether or not his friend has any idea how... Soft he sounds when he says them. “Th-that's... Good,” he stammers. Clearing his throat, he holds his hands up with a nervous grin. “Ready?”
“Whenever you are.”
Just like all the times before, Hizashi closes his eyes and focuses. The connection comes swiftly, so much more so than this morning with Tensei, and Hizashi steels himself for what he might see when he opens his eyes to see what Shouta's soul looks like now. Will any threads be out of place? Did the curse shift while he wasn't paying attention and wrap around a different part of his soul? Does he need to gather his magic and disable the chaotic magic and start tethering?
Hizashi opens his eyes.
And stares.
Like always, there's the silvers, the reds, the blues interwoven and beautiful. Those haven't changed. But the specific part of his soul that Hizashi needs to look at, where the curse lays and has attached itself to Shouta and changed him forever... It's fine. Every single strand, every single thread, every single tiny string is tethered calmly in place, the cool grays and golds still and peaceful in a way that even Tensei's weren't when he'd looked at him earlier. Nothing is splitting off, nothing is changing, nothing seems to be confused and searching.
Shouta's soul... Is fine.
“I... What...” Hizashi gapes as he leans closer, trying to see if he can find anything out of the ordinary – well, beyond a perfectly healthy soul that has a dormant curse in it that is... Also perfectly healthy. “I don't understand. How – the curse – it's completely tethered?”
“I told you,” Shouta tells him, grinning tiredly at him. “I'm fine.”
“But I don't understand!” Hizashi pulls his magic back and looks up into Shouta's eyes, brow furrowed in confusion. “Shouta, only a few days ago the curse was – it wasn't tethered down like this! There were bits of it that were waving all over the place and it was growing and trying to do things! Now it's – it's like it's a part of your soul, almost like it's always been there!”
“Well, you have been doing a lot with it recently,” Shouta says simply.
Hizashi shakes his head quickly. “Only looking! I – I haven't actually done anything yet!”
“Your magic likes to do things for me all the time.” The grin on Shouta's face grows as he relaxes onto the back of the couch, a sideways lean that has his hair getting partially in front of his face. “Keeps my things warm, makes sure my coffee stays hot...”
Embarrassment curls around Hizashi quickly. “But – “
“And you know how your magic doesn't like to listen to you whenever it effect magic?” Shouta points at his phone sitting on the coffee table. “You can barely use a phone or an electric stove-top.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Hizashi whines, bringing his hands up to hide his face. “I feel like you're picking on me.”
“I'm not,” Shouta assures. “I'm just saying... Hizashi, whenever you have trouble with your magic like that, you come to me. And all I have to do is ask and your magic stops giving you trouble.”
Well, his friend isn't wrong. Hizashi has been ignoring the implications for a while now, and straight up forgot about it entirely with all this werewolf business. But he hadn't realized Shouta was paying that much attention to how his magic tends to react to his friend's presence and requests. “O-okay, but... But that doesn't mean...”
It doesn't mean that his magic has actually been tethering Shouta's soul this whole time.
… Has it?
A warm hand curls around one of Hizashi's, tugging it gently away from his burning face. He doesn't want to lower his hands, but Shouta wants him to and... Well, apparently he's never managed to refuse Shouta anything. The heat in his cheeks burns hotter when he looks up and sees Shouta smiling at him, the expression soft and fond and entirely amused. “I...”
“Your magic,” Shouta starts slowly, carefully, and never letting go of his hold on Hizashi's hand, “has a certain feel to it. It might be cheesy, but it honestly feels like... Sunshine. And each and every time you've been 'just looking' at my soul, trying to understand the curse and the magic and find a way to help me and other werewolves, I've always felt it doing something.”
“I've been pressing against the ambient magic, though,” Hizashi argues, flustered. “You – that could have been what you've felt.”
“I felt that, too,” Shouta says. Somehow, his expression gets softer. “But I've felt the changes, Hizashi. You may not have realized, but you've been slowly tethering things down from the beginning.”
Hizashi has to look away from Shouta at that. Even while he wants to deny the gravity of what Shouta is telling him – that his magic has been working this whole time, trying to help Shouta, doing what magic does for those a witch... Cares for... He can't deny it. He can't. His eyes catch on where their hands are linked on top of the couch cushions, his long, thin hand in Shouta's wide, warm one.
He likes the way they look together.
“Is that why you haven't been panicking like everyone else?” Hizashi asks eventually. “You've been ridiculously calm this whole time.”
“Partly, yeah,” Shouta says. His hands squeezes around Hizashi's. “But there's... Well, there's another reason.”
“What other reason?”
Slowly, very slowly, giving Hizashi enough time to pull away if he wants, Shouta brings their hands up to his face and lays a kiss on the back of Hizashi's knuckles. The small brush of slightly chapped lips against his skin has him sucking in a sharp breath, eyes going wide and heart jumping wildly in his chest. Shouta lowers their hands the smallest bit, dark eyes affectionate as they stare at him, and Hizashi has never felt so caught yet light at the same time. “I love you.”
Another kiss laid on his knuckles, gentle and perfect and Hizashi's breath hiccups at the sensation, eyes stinging.
“And I know you love me.”
“Shouta...”
“Your magic has been showing how much you care about me from the beginning,” Shouta tells him. “And I... Well, I know what all these new instincts are telling me.”
“You...” Hizashi sucks in a deep breath when he hears how wobbly his voice is all of a sudden. “You were really cuddly. During the full moon.”
“I couldn't really fight off my need to be close to you,” Shouta admits, his own cheeks darkening for the first time in the conversation. “Sorry. I could tell it was a bit much for you.”
“It's – it's fine!” Hizashi's quick to tell him. Something of a smile starts growing on his face, feelings fluttering in his chest beside his pounding heart. “So – I mean, you love me?”
“Yeah. Probably for a while now.”
Hizashi laughs. He's not sure why, but he's... Relieved. With a grin he leans against of the back of the couch as well, tucking his knees up so that they're brushing against Shouta's. “Man, I wish I knew my magic was already on top of helping you out! Why didn't you tell me? I wouldn't have been so stressed, you know?”
“I think you needed to understand it,” Shouta says. “Nothing really settled in me until you finally managed to figure it out. Plus, there was still Iida to help.”
“True, true.” Hizashi twists his hand so that he's properly holding Shouta's back, squeezing gently with his fingers. The action makes the small smile on the other's face grow wider, showing off teeth and crinkling the corners of dark eyes. “When did you learn so much about magic, mister Brand New Werewolf?”
“Well you see, a long while ago now...” Shouta shifts, leaning in until their foreheads brush. “I decided to come to the rescue to a witch in the sky.”