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It was hard being a werewolf in this day and age. 12 year old Ushijima had no idea where his clothes were, or where he was as dawn broke and he awoke in the undergrowth after transforming back to human.
Groaning, he buried his head in his hands and just hoped he wasn’t anywhere too public. Last time, he’d woken up in an alleyway next to a street, with a scarce amount of fur and blood around him. He has enough control not to kill anything, but his werewolf side demanded a fight if he was challenged.
He just hoped he hadn’t hurt whatever it was too much. On the bright side, he knows he won’t be here long. One of his friends placed a tracking spell on him, at his request, and would pick him up in the morning. With clothes, thank goodness.
“Ushijima!” The teenager sighs in relief, poking his head above the bushes and raising his hand.
“Over here, Reon.” A modern witch, Reon jogs over with an amused smile on his lips and passes the clothes over, turning around to give Ushijima privacy to dress.
“You could ask my coven for anti-shift potions, you know that right?”
“I do not want to trouble anybody.” Reon laughs, crossing his arms with amused disbelief.
“There’s more than enough witches-in-training we can test by giving them an assignment~.”
“... Then I suppose I shall make a request.” Tying up the laces to his shoes, Ushijima ruffles his hands in his hair to get rid of any stray leaves, then emerges from the shrubbery. He was incredibly confused.
“So… Where are we?”
“Only two cities away. We can get the train back.”
“I apologise for making you do this again.” Reon swats a flat hand against Ushijima’s back.
“You’re not making me do it. I choose to because we’re friends.” The sincerity has Ushijima dips his head with a small smile, following after Reon as the witch leads him through the winding streets towards the train station.
His stomach rumbles and growls, ravenous from his transformation. At least he didn’t make it halfway across the country this time. A full blood moon gave his werewolf form enough energy and power to travel distances unheard of in a single night, on foot.
“Want some?” Reon points towards the nearest bakery, the rolls in the window looking incredibly tempting, especially the bacon breakfast muffins. Ushijima’s stomach answers for him, and Reon laughs.
“Wait here. If I take you inside, you’d eat the whole shop.”
“... I’m sure I could resist.” He catches scent of the freshly baked bread, tangled with spices and breakfast additions. An almost invisible blush dawns on his cheeks.
“Or perhaps not.” Reon walks in, buys what they need, and passes over a paper brown bag brimming with baked good to Ushijima. The werewolf manages a polite nod before he digs into the contents, devouring it.
Reon munched on a buttered baguette, scrolling through his phone. All of a sudden, it blips with an urgent video call directed through the coven contacts. His face twists with confusion, which peaks Ushijima’s interest.
“An emergency?”
“I hope not. Although Semi never calls me unless it’s needed.” He presses the answer button, and almost instantly, the face of the witch Ushijima has only met once or twice pops up on screen, fraught with concern.
“Reon, I need your best healing spell, as soon as possible! I- I found a puppy, but it’s really beaten up and bleeding and-! Please! I have to save it!”
“Hold on a minute, Semi. What do you mean you ‘found’ a puppy?”
“It was limping around the streets, I don’t think it has a home, and it looks like it got into a really bad fight!”
“Okay, hold on. I’ll come straight to yours. Give me… 15 minutes?”
“Okay, but please hurry. I feel like I have to help it. Look how tiny it is.” The screen pans round to a ball of black fur lying on Semi’s bed, and lifts its head with a whimper. Half the puppy is a huge, fluffy tail, and Reon thinks it might be a Japanese Spitz. It’s covered in wounds, none too deep but bleeding all the same.
“I’ll be there, don’t worry.” The video call ends with a soft thank you, and Reon sighs. It’s only then that he catches glimpse of Ushijima’s wide-eyed expression.
“... Ushijima?”
“I did that.”
“What?” Ushijima looks like he’s about to throw up everything he just ate, whilst Reon is left positively baffled, confused beyond measures.
“I vaguely remember… I think… That puppy challenged me.” With a groan, Reon wipes a hand down his face.
“So Semi’s picked up a stray familiar. Great. I mean, I know he needs one, but I was hoping he’d pick from the bunch we’re training up.”
“You’re not mad at me for hurting it?”
“What? No, of course not. I can separate normal you from werewolf you.”
“Mhmm... I think I have trouble distinguishing that myself.” Reon waves a hand as if to brush it off, reassuring Ushijima.
“If you were being wolfy, I’d soon slap a restraint spell on you.”
“Thank you.” Sighing with relief, Ushijima sags into the train seat. He closes his eyes as the train rumbles along the tracks, using the ten minute journey to rest. The exhaustion from going werewolf a whole night is catching up to him, and he hates that it’ll happen again tonight.
Lunar anomalies are the utter bane of his existence, and a double full moon year, which usually heralds celebration since it strengthens magic, leaves him scowling because it’s an extra night per month that he’s in werewolf form for.
Luckily, double full moon years only happen every 5 years, so this is his second. He yawns, trying to keep his eyes closed whilst remaining awake, and it help that Reon pokes him every now and then. It doesn’t help that Reon is so warm and comfortable and his shoulder is an excellent pillow.
“Not yet. Let me help Semi, then you can go home and sleep.”
“I don’t know how much longer I can stay awake.” With a sympathetic huff, Reon holds up his phone.
“I’ve been texting Semi. He says you can take a nap there whilst I help the puppy.”
“Bless your friend.” Reon laughs, his shoulder shaking, and then he nudges Ushijima off to stand up, guiding the werewolf off the train. He stops outside a cafe-bookshop, knocking on the purple star insignia three times.
“მე აქ ვარ ჯადოსნური განყოფილებისთვის.” The star glows, the door opens itself, and instead of opening into the cafe-bookshop like Ushijima expects, it swings open to a stairway heading upwards. Confused, he blinks.
“What? How?”
“Magic~.” Reon leads him up the stairs, and the smell of incense is immediately apparent. The dark wood is streaked with knots and patterns, tiny gold writing carved into the wood that shimmers under the light of the floating candles.
Rows of bookshelves lead to counter where a boy their age is leaning against the counter, flicking through a large book with a bored expression.
“Yamagata.” He glances up at Reon’s greeting, breaking into a grin.
“Hey, Reon! Nice to see ya again! Who’s your friend?”
“This is Ushijima, but I’m here on business right now.” Yamagata’s expression falls into something serious and he scampers off to grab a step ladder, pushing it up against a shelf behind the counter. It’s where the coven library safekeeps the books of their members, the ones too precious to leave unprotected at home.
“Which one do you need?”
“სამკურნალო ჯადოსნური, please.”
“Gotcha.” Yamagata pulls the book from the shelf, tossing it over to Reon. It floats gently into his arms, and Yamagata leaps from the ladder back to the floor.
“Need ingredients too?”
“No, I think Semi has enough. He collects everything. But I could use a boost in magical power.” The invite has Yamagata beam once more, though he’s still concerned. He turns a key on the desk, grabs Ushijima and Reon by the wrist, and drags them out the coven library just before the magic ends and the door returns to normal, leading into the magicless cafe-bookshop.
“What’s Semi done this time?” Before Reon can answer, Ushijima unintentionally butts in.
“Actually, it’s more my fault.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. I… Was unable to turn down a challenge I should have.” Yamagata laugh, warm and friendly.
“Werewolf, huh? Not your fault then! I guess it’s hard to control on lunar anomalies, right?” Thankful that the librarian understands, Ushijima nods. That doesn’t stop him feeling guilty though. He stumbles in tiredness at they stop running, finding themselves at the bottom of a block of apartment flats.
“This is where Semi lives. He said he’s left the door open.” They find the door propped open by a shoe, obviously left there in a desperate rush, and Ushijima doesn’t like the streak of blood on it. The puppy must be in bad condition.
The trio rush up the stairs, and when Yamagata goes to open the apartment door, it crackles with electricity and gives him a small shock. Semi must have the tourmalinated quartz on the inside. Reon mutters a spell before laying his own hand over it, pushing it open.
“Semi?”
“In the bathroom! I’m just washing him!” Reon enters without hesitation, Semi standing in front of the sink, black ball of fluff in shallow, warm water. Yamagata lingers in the doorway, Ushijima standing behind him.
He feels faint… He’s so tired… The transformation from werewolf to human has sapped all his energy, and he thinks he’s about to pass out on the spot. Semi steps back to let Reon assess the situation, trying to paint on a smile despite his worry.
“Ushijima, is it? Here, I’ll show you where you can lie down.”
“Thank you…” He follows the witch into the small bedroom. The duvet, he notices, has been changed since he sent the picture of the puppy to Reon’s phone.
“There must have been a lot of blood.”
“Yes… They’re all shallow cuts, they just look worse than they are. He was still lively enough to bite me when I picked him, so I’m not as worried as I was before.”
“That’s… Good.” His exhaustion wins over, head dipping as his eyes flutter shut for a moment. Semi gently pushes him into the bed, draping the duvet over the top of him.
“Rest whilst you can. I’m sure Tsutomu will be fine.”
“Tsutomu…?” Semi might blush, though Ushijima isn’t sure through his blurring vision.
“S’what I named the puppy. He didn’t have one before.” Ushijima manages to hum, a smile on his lips, before exhaustion claims him and he passes out right there in the bed.
He doesn’t wake until the bed moves a couple of hours later, and he peels open one eye to see the tiny black puppy trying to jump up onto it. It’s having trouble, but the puppy doesn’t stop, instead bouncing back a few steps, wriggling his tail energetically, and charging up to the bed.
Through hard work, he manages to make the leap. Ushijima huffs a laugh. The white bandages stick out against the black fur that almost glitters with five colours, but it’s obvious the puppy isn’t too badly hurt. It wriggles under Ushijima’s arm and yips.
“Fight me!” Shocked, he blinks and stares at the puppy. It - Tsutomu - raises a paw and pats it against Ushijima’s cheek.
“Fight me! C’mon, I can take you on! I’ll be the strongest!” Despite his tiredness, Ushijima manages to shuffle into sitting up, the puppy rolling onto his lap.
“I will not fight you, Tsutomu.”
“I’ll beat you this time!” Ah. That confirms it, that yes, this was the creature that challenged him last night whilst he was a werewolf.
“I believe you already did, if you are here whilst I was two cities away.”
“No, I ran off ‘cus the sun was coming up. You turned human before I could defeat you. That doesn’t count as a win!” Ushijima wonders how this tiny puppy, wounded and weakened, managed to get all the way back to this town before he even awoke after shifting back.
“Maybe it was luck that the sun intervened.” Tsutomu lunges to nip at his fingers, and Ushijima leads him back and forth between his hands, giving the puppy a little run around with a smile on his face.
“I have to challenge you again! Fight me!”
“No, I won’t.”
“Are you scared I’ll win?!” The puppy puffs out his fluffy chest, trying to make himself look big and intimidating. It’s just cute, but Ushijima won’t belittle him like that. He pats the fluff, watching the puppy sink into the touch with a happy expression.
“Of course. I’m sure you are very strong.” Tsutomu’s tail wags and he runs in a circle with a happy yip, before the bedroom door opens more than just the little gap Tsutomu had created.
“Tsutomu! I told you not to bother Ushijima!”
“But I want to fight him! I’ll prove I’m strongest!”
“No.” The stern look from Semi has Tsutomu wilt and whimper, though he says nothing else as he’s scooped up in the witches arms. They must have completed the familiar contract whilst Ushijima was sleeping.
It makes sense, considering how they were drawn to each other. It happens with a witch and familiar occasionally, and it’s bound to a strong magic. Semi huffs and smiles at the werewolf.
“Welcome back to the land of the living. We’re having tea, if you’d like to join us.” Ushijima nods, following Semi back into the main area of the living room where Yamagata and Reon are in fits of laughter. He raises an eyebrow.
“... They were imagining you in werewolf form struggling to fight this pipsqueak.” Semi shuffles Tsutomu in his arms as the puppy growls.
“I’m not a pipsqueak! I’m a ferocious warrior, the strongest in the world!”
“Of course, of course. Well, maybe the ferocious warrior should do what the witch doctor recommended, hmm? You’re supposed to be on bed rest, Tsutomu.” The puppy wilts, and as Semi drops him onto the sofa, pads over to where a temporary dog bed has been made from pillows and blankets.
Ushijima makes himself comfortable at the other end, Yamagata between them to stop Tsutomu should he try and lunge over. Semi pours another cup of tea, passing it over to the werewolf.
“So you’re out again tonight?”
“Yes. The lunar anomaly years are rather annoying.”
“I’ve told him many times that he can ask our coven for anti-shift potions, but he won’t accept.” Reon gives him a pointed look, almost like telling him off, and Ushijima hangs his head as an apology he hopes his friend will accept.
“I can probably make you one now.” He looks at Semi with wide eyes.
“Really? You would do that?”
“Sure. Why not? Any friend of Reon’s is a friend of mine.” Yamagata nods in agreement, swiping a cookie from the plate on the table and biting into it enthusiastically.
“Same here! You might not be a witch or part of the coven, but it kinda feels like we should know ya, y’know?” He must admit, he feels very comfortable sitting here with these companions, despite only knowing Reon. He nods.
“I think I understand.” Semi chuckles softly as he stands, wiping his hands on his robe.
“Let me get started on that anti-shift potion. We’d better make enough to last the lunar cycle.”